Jacksonville believed in the vision enough to trade up for Travis Hunter… and so far, he’s living up to that fanfare. He amazed fans and teammates alike with his skills in May OTAs. Sure, there are some like Super Bowl champ Willie Colon. He said Hunter’s teammates should “test his armor.” Why? Because sustaining two roles over an 18-week season is about toughness. “I’m going to see how tough you really are,” Colon said. “I promise you he won’t [last all season both ways].” Well, it’s as if the Jags heard Colon.

One of the clips from May shows the #12’s mettle. As Travis was tightly guarding Darius Lassiter during practice drills, he used his right arm to deflect the pass and hauled it in for the interception as he fell to the ground. Did the team know that he was destined for such iconic and viral moments? Yes, certainly! But the team didn’t think it would come so soon. And here it was. It is thrilling to watch. Even more so for the Jaguars’ veterans and head coach Liam Coen, who are equally hyped up.

Coen and the team also seemingly look into ways that will allow the rookie to get comfortable in his role and aim for more. If this means believing in the player and allowing him to take the shots during crucial moments, then this is exactly what the team is doing. Jaguars player Josh Hines-Allen just revealed how they are enabling and slowly raising the bar for Hunter to catch up.

During his recent appearance for a conversation on Speak, Hines-Allen opened up about how he asked the coach to let Hunter catch the ball. “When he intercepted the ball on defense, I told the coach, I said, ‘Coach, throw it to him. We trying to see what you know, cuz we’re trying to see if he can do it.” He threw that ball up and at the time we was like, ‘Damn, he just caught that.’ And I just thought it was one of the craziest catches like to be put on the spot at that moment and to deliver that was a good moment for not only like for me to see but just be like, ‘Damn this dude he’s a baller at the end of the day’.”

He knew that Hunter had it in him, and he wanted the rookie to take the lead. To their surprise, he caught the ball, while going viral among fans and netizens too. So, the entire team is pushing Hunter while motivating him. The coach, who wants competitiveness in the practice sessions, has also placed a great focus on training and guiding the rookies. And he planned to start right from scratch. Speaking of the veteran player, he was quite excited when the Jaguars selected Hunter.

During The Rich Eisen Show, Hines-Allen even expressed his excitement to play alongside Hunter, who he believes has the power to lead the Jaguars. “When we traded up to No. 2, I was like, ‘Wow. This is the guy that I felt like who can help us immediately. I think Travis was the best player in this draft, hands down. To have him on our team now, I can’t wait to play with him,” Hines-Allen said. He continues to share more about the rookie after the minicamp. But Josh’s endorsement doesn’t end on Hunter… He also gave his  2 cents on the ‘overpaid’ franchise QB (as many call him): Trevor Lawrence.

What is Liam Coen’s plan for the franchise quarterback?

The 2021 NFL No. 1 overall draft pick is one of the best QBs to have suited up for the Jaguars. He started 17 games for the 3-14 Jaguars in his rookie year. While he is one of the elite QBs, Lawrence has also had his share of struggles. This is his fifth year with the team but with a third different coach. He has been putting in immense work to help the Jaguars’ quarterback get back on track.

As Brent Martineau of The Brent and Austen Show podcast explained, this is the coach’s priority. On Speak, Hines Allen also echoed the same opinion. When asked about Lawrence and whether he gets the recognition he deserves, he went on to express his respect for the quarterback at first.

He explained that Coach Coen is supporting Trevor while maximizing the performance of the entire offensive unit. He’s not just boosting Trevor’s confidence and pushing him to perform better. But also has his focus on the entire offensive line. “What we need to do we got BTJ who’s already solidified himself as one of the top receivers and again that takes the pressure off of Travis going into a situation where you know he doesn’t have to be the number one guy on that side of the ball so again that helps Trevor develop into the guy that we all know he can be,” he said.

He claimed that it would allow Trevor to develop, ultimately aiming to optimize the team’s overall performance. Considering the situation with the team, there will be much pressure on Lawrence as he heads into the 2025 season, where people will expect him to step up.