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TRAVIS HUNTER OUT FOR THE SEASON · Duval Daily: A Jacksonville Jaguars Podcast

• 0:06
  [SPEAKER_00]: Jacksonville Jack Wars fans, welcome in to Dove All Daily, presented by Gin Jack.com.
• 0:10
  [SPEAKER_00]: I'm Jordan Aluga, thanks so much for being here Tuesday.
• 0:12
  [SPEAKER_00]: November 11th, thanks have gone from bad to worse for your Jacksonville Jack Wars.
• 0:19
  [SPEAKER_00]: Travis Hunter out for the season.
• 0:25
  [SPEAKER_00]: Travis Hunter is out for the season.
• 0:28
  [SPEAKER_00]: Things obviously didn't go as the Jack Wars had hoped
• 0:36
  [SPEAKER_00]: Travis Hunter's knee, he had an injury, he sustained and practiced a couple of weeks ago, leading up to the contest with the Raiders.
• 0:46
  [SPEAKER_00]: And according to Ian Rappaport, Travis Hunter, underwent season ending knee surgery with eyes set on 2026, it's an LCL repair, he's expected to return within six months to full football
• 1:07
  [SPEAKER_00]: uh... six months from now is may so i mean he should have the a pretty much the entire off season still to grow and you know get more fully integrated onto both sides of the ball i assume that's how the jackores will continue to proceed i don't know that for a fact but
• 1:34
  [SPEAKER_00]: I don't think you traded up to the number two overall pick to just quit on this project.
• 1:40
  [SPEAKER_00]: Not saying that Travis Hunter is a project because I think he was ready to ball all year long.
• 1:44
  [SPEAKER_00]: I really do.
• 1:48
  [SPEAKER_00]: Goodness gracious.
• 1:50
  [SPEAKER_00]: He was playing so well on both sides of the ball in my opinion towards the end there.
• 2:05
  [SPEAKER_00]: His last game, eight catches, 100 something yards, a touchdown.
• 2:13
  [SPEAKER_00]: So he'll finish his rookie season with 28 catches on 43 targets for 298 yards and one touchdown on offense.
• 2:27
  [SPEAKER_00]: On defense.
• 2:28
  [SPEAKER_00]: 162 total snaps.
• 2:36
  [SPEAKER_00]: allowed nine completions on 15 targets in primary coverage, two official past breakups, no perceptions, 14 tackles.
• 2:48
  [SPEAKER_00]: He was really good.
• 2:50
  [SPEAKER_00]: He was really good.
• 2:52
  [SPEAKER_00]: And this is absolutely I mean, yeah, this is this is a somber sobering moment.
• 2:58
  [SPEAKER_00]: It feels so bad for Travis Hunter.
• 3:01
  [SPEAKER_00]: Not anything like, you know, he went into a horrible situation or this, that the other.
• 3:05
  [SPEAKER_00]: I just feel bad for the kid.
• 3:08
  [SPEAKER_00]: He busts his butt every day.
• 3:10
  [SPEAKER_00]: He's all ball, great attitude, great work ethic, bundle of energy.
• 3:16
  [SPEAKER_00]: And, you know, only got to play seven games.
• 3:31
  [SPEAKER_00]: in any year one.
• 3:34
  [SPEAKER_00]: So horrible, horrible, horrible, horrible news for the Jaguar as horrible news for Travis and I guess the good news is, you know, it is just the LCL.
• 3:45
  [SPEAKER_00]: It's not ACLM CL anything else.
• 3:47
  [SPEAKER_00]: So it was clean other than that.
• 3:54
  [SPEAKER_00]: And yeah, the group chat is not, this news has just happened.
• 3:58
  [SPEAKER_00]: So we're responding into it in real time here.
• 4:03
  [SPEAKER_00]: Pretty shocking.
• 4:05
  [SPEAKER_00]: I think it was RAPSheet who tweeted last week, reported last week that the Jaguars were expecting to have him back after the four weeks of injured reserve, something to that effect.
• 4:24
  [SPEAKER_00]: under what knee surgery on that LCL.
• 4:27
  [SPEAKER_00]: I'm no expert on these things, but, you know, Rapture says he should be back and may fully back to football activities in May.
• 4:39
  [SPEAKER_00]: I guess that's the silver lining is it's not like some injury that's gonna hold him out for a next off season and into next season, but that is a tough pill to swallow
• 4:55
  [SPEAKER_00]: Sunday, you know, an opportunity to get to six and three.
• 5:06
  [SPEAKER_00]: Colts had a tough game in Berlin against the Falcons.
• 5:11
  [SPEAKER_00]: You know, you're looking at this and saying, OK, if we can get out of week 10 with the Colts at seven and three in the Jaguars at six and three, we are right there.
• 5:24
  [SPEAKER_00]: Jonathan Taylor ran all over the Falcons.
• 5:27
  [SPEAKER_00]: They got to eight and two.
• 5:29
  [SPEAKER_00]: Barely.
• 5:30
  [SPEAKER_00]: But Jags had every opportunity, as we all know, and they should have beaten the Texans, and they didn't.
• 5:39
  [SPEAKER_00]: And now you get this news a couple days later, as a Jaguar fan base, I don't know how folks will respond to this, but that is tough.
• 5:49
  [SPEAKER_00]: That is really tough.
• 5:50
  [SPEAKER_00]: So moving forward,
• 5:53
  [SPEAKER_00]: In 2025, the Jaguars, the season A and O ver folks, it might feel like it is, you know, Travis Hunter down for the year, Jaguars have lost three of their last four games, have the most embarrassing collapse in franchise history against division rival Houston Texans without their starting quarterback.
• 6:17
  [SPEAKER_00]: but there's still a lot of football left to be played.
• 6:20
  [SPEAKER_00]: The Jaguars have played nine games.
• 6:22
  [SPEAKER_00]: They have a games left.
• 6:24
  [SPEAKER_00]: Charters, Cardinals, Titans twice, Coldstweiss, Jets, Broncos.
• 6:34
  [SPEAKER_00]: What can you do?
• 6:35
  [SPEAKER_00]: Can you pick yourself up off the mat?
• 6:37
  [SPEAKER_00]: Can you make the playoffs?
• 6:39
  [SPEAKER_00]: Technically, they still control their own destiny when it comes to the division because they play the cult's twice.
• 6:46
  [SPEAKER_00]: If they beat the cult's twice and went out, obviously, they could have the same record as the cult's in on the tiebreaker.
• 6:53
  [SPEAKER_00]: I'm not expecting that, which is being realistic, that is possible.
• 6:57
  [SPEAKER_00]: It's within the realm of possibilities, but I don't think it's going to happen.
• 7:03
  [SPEAKER_00]: Best wide receiver on the team, best corner on the team out and that is one of the risks you take when you draft somebody to do something unprecedented and play both sides of the ball.
• 7:13
  [SPEAKER_00]: Now you're down your best player, how wide receiver and your best player at corner.
• 7:24
  [SPEAKER_00]: Brutal.
• 7:34
  [SPEAKER_00]: The Jaguars have the talent at both of those positions to get through the season potentially at those two positions.
• 7:45
  [SPEAKER_00]: There's some other positions where it's like, well, we are F. We can talk about that, too.
• 7:56
  [SPEAKER_00]: At wide receiver, you just brought in Jacobi Mars.
• 7:59
  [SPEAKER_00]: Brian Thomas Jr. will be back soon.
• 8:01
  [SPEAKER_00]: He has a high ankle sprain, did not play against the Texans.
• 8:06
  [SPEAKER_00]: Theoretically, could potentially play against the Chargers.
• 8:15
  [SPEAKER_00]: It's a low grade high ankle sprain.
• 8:18
  [SPEAKER_00]: So that's something to keep in mind.
• 8:22
  [SPEAKER_00]: I can't remember if he ended up practicing at all last week, we'll look at that real quick.
• 8:26
  [SPEAKER_00]: Not that that is necessarily the big indicator, right?
• 8:32
  [SPEAKER_00]: But, let's see, yeah.
• 8:39
  [SPEAKER_00]: So he didn't participate in any practice last week.
• 8:43
  [SPEAKER_00]: If he is limited, Wednesday, I think that's a sign that you're probably looking at him potentially playing.
• 8:52
  [SPEAKER_00]: He'll be back though, he'll be back, and then we were talking about it earlier today.
• 8:58
  [SPEAKER_00]: The rest of the season for him and my opinion is going to be a major evaluation, a major piece to the evaluation for how the Jack Wars view him moving forward.
• 9:07
  [SPEAKER_00]: He's got to play with effort.
• 9:10
  [SPEAKER_00]: That's primary, that's goal number one for him, play with effort consistently.
• 9:15
  [SPEAKER_00]: And then catch the damn ball.
• 9:19
  [SPEAKER_00]: If you can do those two things, I think you can be an excellent football player, Brian Thomas Jr.
• 9:24
  [SPEAKER_00]: If you can't play with effort, I don't think you can be on the field consistently, but he's going to be.
• 9:29
  [SPEAKER_00]: No Travis Hunter.
• 9:31
  [SPEAKER_00]: And you certainly won't have him on the field more than Naomi Brown.
• 9:34
  [SPEAKER_00]: Now again, this week against the Chargers, if BTJ can't play, you're looking at the same crew you had last week, which was Jacobi Myers, Parker Washington,
• 9:47
  [SPEAKER_00]: Diamy Brown, awesome tremble, Tim Jones.
• 9:50
  [SPEAKER_00]: Diamy didn't play a whole lot, but he did play some.
• 9:53
  [SPEAKER_00]: So it was primarily Jacobi and Parker, which I'm good with those two.
• 10:00
  [SPEAKER_00]: You'd love to have BTJ and Travis Hunter, but once BTJ is back,
• 10:10
  [SPEAKER_00]: The top three receivers are going to be BTJ Jacobi Myers, Parker Washington, and then you also get Britain's strange back.
• 10:20
  [SPEAKER_00]: When will that happen?
• 10:21
  [SPEAKER_00]: Will it be this week?
• 10:22
  [SPEAKER_00]: It could be.
• 10:24
  [SPEAKER_00]: But I don't think they're going to rush that.
• 10:28
  [SPEAKER_00]: They don't want to put him in a position to further or a re-angir or, you know, reactivator, have a setback, whatever you want to call it.
• 10:37
  [SPEAKER_00]: But they need him desperately.
• 10:42
  [SPEAKER_00]: Absolutely.
• 10:43
  [SPEAKER_00]: But if you can have BTJ giving effort, Parker, Jacoby, Brenton, I think that's enough.
• 10:54
  [SPEAKER_00]: I think that's enough.
• 10:56
  [SPEAKER_00]: It's not optimal, but I think it can be enough.
• 11:00
  [SPEAKER_00]: Defensively, I think if you play Zen coverage with Buster Brown, whatever coverage you want with Greg
• 11:12
  [SPEAKER_00]: You have outside, and then Jordan Lewis and Darian Jones can both play.
• 11:21
  [SPEAKER_00]: I hate saying this, but it almost feels like Jordan Lewis the addition was redundant.
• 11:28
  [SPEAKER_00]: Great leader, great player, made a ton of great place for the Jaguars.
• 11:32
  [SPEAKER_00]: Darian Jones is a hell of a nickel corner.
• 11:36
  [SPEAKER_00]: He's been sitting on the bench all year long.
• 11:42
  [SPEAKER_00]: use of capital, cap space, have been better allocated elsewhere.
• 11:53
  [SPEAKER_00]: I don't know.
• 11:54
  [SPEAKER_00]: And I hate saying that.
• 11:57
  [SPEAKER_00]: I really like Jordan Lewis, the character in that locker room and the player.
• 12:04
  [SPEAKER_00]: But jargons are hell of a player.
• 12:11
  [SPEAKER_00]: So yeah, that's frustrating.
• 12:13
  [SPEAKER_00]: Well, I think you have enough guys at corner.
• 12:14
  [SPEAKER_00]: Where you don't have the talent right now is safety.
• 12:17
  [SPEAKER_00]: I don't think, you know, Eric Murray's on injured deserve to who knows when he'll be back.
• 12:25
  [SPEAKER_00]: Neck injury, if he'll be back, don't know.
• 12:31
  [SPEAKER_00]: No Caleb Branson, Antonio Johnson and Dewey Wanger has to be one of the worst safety combinations in the NFL.
• 12:42
  [SPEAKER_00]: And then, offensively, I mean, walk a little's not going to be planned to Neil Hunter every week or will Anderson.
• 12:50
  [SPEAKER_00]: We know that, but he's not going to be playing scrubs every week either, and he's been absolutely horrible.
• 12:56
  [SPEAKER_00]: So they've got some major mate.
• 12:58
  [SPEAKER_00]: And then I think you have play calling issues against the Texans.
• 13:02
  [SPEAKER_00]: I think you had just, I can't fathom why they were playing so much off coverage.
• 13:11
  [SPEAKER_00]: it was giving Davis Mills everything he wanted.
• 13:14
  [SPEAKER_00]: We're going to talk more about that later.
• 13:16
  [SPEAKER_00]: Right now, the point of it of this is Travis Hunter out for the season.
• 13:20
  [SPEAKER_00]: I do think you have the pieces at receiver and at corner to survive without him, but this is, it's not a wasted season for Travis Hunter by any stretch of the imagination.
• 13:32
  [SPEAKER_00]: Because he's going to get in mental work.
• 13:35
  [SPEAKER_00]: The rest of the year, he's gotten in a lot of physical work.
• 13:39
  [SPEAKER_00]: throughout the seven games he played, right?
• 13:41
  [SPEAKER_00]: I mean, he had 162 defensive snaps in seven games.
• 13:46
  [SPEAKER_00]: He had 323 offensive snaps in seven games.
• 13:50
  [SPEAKER_00]: He got a lot of experience and he's going to gain more mental experience.
• 13:56
  [SPEAKER_00]: It's not a wasted year.
• 13:59
  [SPEAKER_00]: But it seems like it's probably about as disappointing as it can be just
• 14:11
  [SPEAKER_00]: And again, I'm trying to be very, like his play on the field was not disappointing at all.
• 14:18
  [SPEAKER_00]: At all, he was everything and more that I expected he could be when he was given his chances.
• 14:24
  [SPEAKER_00]: So, Travis Hunter out for the year, six months, LCL, hopefully you can get BTJ back, ASAP, otherwise, you're gonna see more de-almy Brown than you want,
• 14:38
  [SPEAKER_00]: Nothing against Austin Traumler, Tim Jones, because I think that those guys are grinders and they've been fighting to have a career and they've both done some good things where the Jaguar is the last couple of weeks, but ideally, don't want them out there.
• 14:53
  [SPEAKER_00]: Tim Patrick, nothing's gonna really change corner, you know, Buster and Greg, I think out there.
• 15:01
  [SPEAKER_00]: So, let me know how y'all are feeling in the comment section below.
• 15:05
  [SPEAKER_00]: You can do whatever you want.
• 15:06
  [SPEAKER_00]: Really appreciate y'all being here.
• 15:08
  [SPEAKER_00]: Have a good one.