In Week 1, the Jaguars easily crushed the Panthers 26-10. In that game, Liam Coen leaned heavily on Travis Hunter as a wide receiver during Week 1, giving him 39 offensive snaps while barely using him on defense—just six snaps. However, former NFL cornerback Richard Sherman didn’t like Coen’s plan.

On his podcast, Sherman bluntly said, “I just don’t think they’re using him right, you know, and I think it’s a waste of time what they doing because they’re like trying to like spot play him at corner and there’s no real way to spot play at corner.” Sherman’s frustration makes sense—he’s seen the league’s complexities up close and understands that slapping a player into a critical role without proper preparation won’t cut it.

But why Coen’s approach won’t work in the long term. The timing of critical moments in a game is unpredictable. You don’t know whether the key play happens on the first drive, the 12th, or the sixth. Coen can’t just throw Hunter in cold during a crucial third down and expect a shutout performance. As per Sherman, the NFL runs like a chess game, where both sides set traps and anticipate moves. Entering without any rhythm, without feeling the offense’s pace or reading a receiver’s release, puts Hunter at a tremendous disadvantage. However, Hunter did prove himself on offense.

He led the Jaguars in both targets and receptions against Carolina, pulling in six catches for 33 yards. That’s solid for a rookie trying to find his footing. But in defense? Coen didn’t really give him enough snaps to show anything meaningful. That’s why Sherman was blunt: “That’s not enough to make an impact.”

Ultimately, Sherman argued it felt like a box-checking exercise — as if the Jaguars just wanted to say Hunter played both ways. “Either just play him on offense and let him thrive,” Sherman added. However, now it seems Coen understands what to do next.

Liam Coen will give Travis Hunter more defensive snaps

Liam Coen recently opened up about Travis Hunter’s growing role on defense as the team heads into Week 2 against the Bengals. “Going into Week 1, it was, ‘OK, we know that it’s not going to be a ton on defense. The goal is to increase and continue to increase [his defensive snaps]. It just so happens that we’re playing Cincinnati with two good wideouts this week,” Coen told Michael DiRocco of ESPN.

However, the step up won’t be easy. Going up against Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins isn’t exactly rookie-friendly, especially after Hunter’s limited defensive reps last week. Still, Hunter seems undaunted. “I feel like every week is a challenge for me,” Hunter said. “I have to be ready for whatever they change up on the opposite team; I feel like every week is going to be a challenge for me, especially this week because it’s my first time getting more reps there.”

The Jaguars have listed him as a second-string cornerback, and logic suggests they won’t throw him one-on-one against the league’s elite receivers. After all, putting him directly against Chase or Higgins without any safety net wouldn’t be the smartest move for a rookie still finding his footing. And then there is the question of whether his time on offense is going to go down if Coen progressively increases his snaps on defense. Still, no matter the scheme, Hunter gets a big stage to prove his worth.