Jaguars' OC Grant Udinski on what it's like working with Travis Hunter

USA Today

19 hours ago

Jaguars' OC Grant Udinski recently weighed in on what it's like working with Travis Hunter.
#Jaguars OC Grant Udinski on working with Travis Hunter: "He's been an injection of energy into not just the offense, but I think the team. What you see on TV — him dancing around and bringing the juice and energy — that is genuine."📺 Full episode: https://t.co/QgPxEMgRYi https://t.co/bUEhI69q0v pic.twitter.com/qzAkquyizY
On the latest episode of 'NFL Spotlight' with Ari Meirov, Jacksonville Jaguars' offensive coordinator discussed what it was like working with Travis Hunter, who is playing both the offensive and defensive sides of the ball.
"He's been an injection of energy into not just the offense, but I think the team," Udinski said. "What you see on TV of him dancing around or bringing the juice and all of that energy to practice, that is genuine. That's the real deal right there.
"He's a lot of fun to be around, not only because he brings that energy but because he is a football guy in the sense that he loves football, wants to be great, willing to work, wants to talk about things, wants to go over things."
Since arriving in Jacksonville, Hunter has been in both the offensive and defensive meeting rooms, learning both playbooks and the terminology of each scheme. But on the practice field, most of Hunter's playing time up to this point has come at wide receiver.
That was the plan from the start, and GM James Gladstone added recently that the team views cornerback as Hunter's more natural position. I would also add that the team likely wanted Hunter to get a jump start on what is a robust playbook under Liam Coen.
The next step for Hunter in his progression will be practicing on both offense and defense regularly during the same practice. For most of OTAs and minicamp, Hunter was either on offense or defense on a given day.
Now, how exactly Coen and the Jaguars plan to divvy up those practice reps for Hunter remains to be seen.
"Like Liam said," added Udinski, "I know he's mentioned it multiple times, he can run all day. So he's out there excited about practice, and he's practicing hard for the entire time he's practicing. That's exciting for me as a coach to be a part of that to let alone have a guy like that to get to work with.
"I'm excited about the challenges of splitting time between offense and defense and the many different roles that he'll play on our team and if there's a guy that can do it, I'm excited about seeing him approach that challenge."