"There's little bit of misconception" - Jaguars GM explains why Travis Hunter’s OTA reps at WR don’t mean position switch

Organized team activities and minicamp were the first glances of Travis Hunter as an NFL player, and the excitement about his career as a two-way player will only grow. The rookie is still learning the nuances of the league, so everything needs to be carefully managed.

So far, Hunter has seen a bigger share of snaps on the offensive side of the ball. This has led to discussion about where he's going to play in the NFL, despite the Jacksonville Jaguars always saying that he would remain a two-way player.

On Wednesday, general manager James Gladstone explained their plan to SiriusXM NFL Radio's hosts Andrew Siciliano and Max Starks.

“I do think there's a little bit of a misconception in that it's wide receiver first, corner second, as much as it is the learning methodology of wide receiver through this phase, and then continuing to trickle in more defense, since that is his primary background," Gladstone said.

"Our understanding is that Travis is most naturally comfortable, most naturally in tune on the defensive side of the ball, we wanted to load him offensively throughout this window to ensure that by the time we got to training camp, we had a runway built up on that side."

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Jaguars coach Liam Coen noted in OTAs how Travis Hunter needed to improve and return to "football shape"

Although he was full of praise for the second pick, Liam Coen noted how Travis Hunter had a tough offseason and could not work as much as he wanted on his shape.

As such, the coach understood that it would take some time for him to be at 100% again. Back in OTAs, in May, he spoke to reporters after the offseason's first practice and noted how he was still getting to full speed.

“I think so far so good. He had a couple of missed assignments today that he knew right away," Coen said. "He came off the grass and took accountability for them.

"The one thing you notice is for a guy that hasn’t played a ton of football, been out conditioning for maybe the last two months because he was out on a bit of a tour, the guy can run forever. He just kind of goes, runs a route, runs back. Travis has worked hard at getting this stuff right.”

Hunter will be the league's first two-way player since Charles Woodson, who featured as a wide receiver in some offensive packages. Hunter, however, is expected to play full-time on both sides of the ball.