Jaguars’ Travis Hunter sees increased offensive role in Week 7

LONDON — Travis Hunter has known for a while that the ball from his first NFL touchdown was going to go to his son.

It may have taken a little longer than many expected, but his two-month-old finally has one after his dad caught a 34-yard pass from Trevor Lawrence in the Jacksonville Jaguars’ 35-7 loss to the Los Angeles Rams on Sunday at Wembley Stadium.

“I just told coach to get me the ball [and] I’ll go there and make a play,” Hunter said. “And he got me the ball and I just did what I had to do.”

What he did was fight through some contact by Rams safety Quentin Lake, catch the pass at the 7-yard line, and scoot past Rams safety Kam Curl at the goal line. That came with 9:06 remaining and it avoided what would have been the team’s first shutout since Urban Meyer’s final game as head coach in Week 14 of the 2021 season.

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Hunter didn’t celebrate the score, either in the end zone or on the sideline, other than keeping the ball for his son. He and his wife, Leanna, have yet to announce their son’s name publicly. Nor was he thinking that it was about time he finally got into the end zone in Week 7.

“I wasn’t thinking about that,” he said. “I was just thinking about, ‘I put the points on the board for the team.’

“… I ain’t worried about the stats. We’ve got to do better on the football field. We’ve got to come out and win. That’s what I was most focused on, just doing my job and having the other guys do their job and we come out on top.”

Jaguars coach Liam Coen said earlier in the week that he needed to get Hunter more involved in the offense, and the touchdown was a natural part of that. Hunter set career highs in targets (14), receptions (eight) and receiving yards (101) against the Rams. He also played just 12 snaps on defense, down from last week’s 22.

“There definitely was a plan going into the game that we wanted to utilize him more on the offensive side of the ball, specifically trying to get the ball into his hands,” Coen said. “Then the first half was just kind of funky the way we couldn’t get anybody the ball consistently and get into a rhythm and then he was able to make some plays in the second half.

“… So happy that he got his first touchdown. Tough to see it come in that moment [with the team trailing 28-0].”

Lawrence said Hunter wasn’t the primary target on the play call, but Lawrence liked the matchup that he saw and took advantage of Hunter against a safety.

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“Could have thrown out the quick out to Parker [Washington], but the corner tied down and I felt like we had a match up there with the safety,” Lawrence said. “They were holding him so he got the flag [for defensive pass interference] but fought through the contact, still made the play of the ball.”

Like his head coach, Lawrence said he wished the touchdown could have come in a better situation.

“Awesome first NFL touchdown,” Lawrence said. “I hate that those were the circumstances. I just wish it was better that we winning and it was a different scenario for his first NFL touchdown. He wasn’t even celebrating; he was just competitive.

“He obviously wants to win the game, and he just ran back to the sideline and didn’t make a big deal of it.”