Travis Hunter injury update: ESPN insider gives the latest on status of Jaguars dual-threat star

Jacksonville Jaguars wide receiver/cornerback Travis Hunter has been in and out of practice over the last week. ESPN‘s Dan Graziano said on Friday’s “Get Up” that Hunter is dealing with an upper-body injury, adding that he won’t play in Saturday’s preseason finale against the Miami Dolphins.

“He’s been missing practice time with what the team describes as an upper-body injury,” Graziano said. “He’s not going to play in the Jaguars’ preseason finale, with head coach Liam Coen saying yesterday that it’s just about getting him ready for the regular season and that if it was a game that counted, he would be able to play.”

Hunter, the No. 2 overall selection in this year’s NFL Draft, suffered the injury during the team’s scrimmage on Aug. 14. He did not practice the following day, nor did he suit up in Jacksonville’s second preseason contest against the New Orleans Saints. Hunter returned to participate in individual drills Tuesday and Wednesday this week, though he was held out of Thursday’s joint practice with the Dolphins.

Coen said that holding Hunter out of practice is a long-term move. They don’t want to risk the chance of him aggravating the injury and being unavailable for Week 1 against the Carolina Panthers.

“It was more just do we want him now or potentially not [playing against] Carolina [in Week 1],” Coen said, via Michael DiRocco of ESPN. “It was more just being smart about the next few weeks because the ultimate goal is Carolina.

“Could he have probably gone? I think so. If this was Carolina, would he have probably played? Yeah, so we’re moving in the right direction.”

Travis Hunter already playing both ways for Jaguars

Hunter played in Jacksonville’s preseason opener two weeks ago against the Pittsburgh Steelers. He played 19 snaps, including 10 on offense. He totaled two catches for nine yards on the opening drive but didn’t record a defensive stat. Hunter was not targeted on defense.

Coen said he thought Hunter played well on offense. While he noticed a missed tackle on defense, it was still a good debut for the former Colorado star.

“I think he made a couple good catches on some option routes,” Coen said after the game. “He missed the one tackle defensively that I noticed, like that was the only thing that I kind of noticed. In terms of his overall play, I’ll have to watch the tape on how he operated defensively a little bit more, but I thought offensively, he made the right decisions on those option routes. He made a good catch and almost broke out of that one.”