When the Jaguars drafted Travis Hunter a few months ago, the team added the first potential true two-way star in the modern era of the NFL.
Throughout the offseason, Hunter's split his time practicing with the offense and defense, and he occasionally practiced with both sides in the same day. So, fans were eager to see what the Jaguars would do with Hunter once training camp began.
On the first day of camp, Hunter exclusively practiced with the offense. However, coach Liam Coen shared on Wednesday that the plan is for Hunter to practice on both sides of the ball in the same day soon.
"You want to give him a couple days offense, a couple days defense, and then give him an opportunity to go flip-flop within the same practice and then that will kind of become the norm," Coen said. "... Every moment, every minute that he is in the building, it is accounted for and trying to make sure that we maximize his time, our time so that we can ultimately get the best outcome."
The team is adjusting from OTAs when Hunter went days focusing on one side of the ball. Coen admitted this wasn't the best technique, so the team plans to make sure he practices on both sides during training camp.
"That's too long to kind of go without doing anything on maybe the other side of the ball," Coen said. "So we learned something there, and also, within these blocks where we're kind of three days on with an off day [during training camp], it allows us to map it out maybe a little bit cleaner and give him more opportunities. But every single day that he is on one side of the ball, he will meet with the other side of the ball at least once, maybe twice, as well."
This sounds like a productive plan for Hunter as he prepares for his rookie NFL season. Being a two-way NFL star is something of a new concept for many fans and teams as the last two-way player in the league was Chuck Bednarik, who played in the NFL from 1949 to '62.You can read a whole history here about the stars who played the full "60 minutes" of the game by competing on both offense and defense.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Jaguars Coach Details Precise Training Camp Plans for Travis Hunter to Play Both Ways.