As Travis Hunter works back to full health, his snap count will increase. Sunday's victory over the New England Patriots marked the first career NFL interception for the Jacksonville Jaguars' former No. 2 selection, as he continues to be productive when on the field.
Leading up to the Jacksonville Jaguars' Week 3 matchup against the New England Patriots, the usage of former Heisman winning WR/DB Travis Hunter had been in question.
However, he remained focused on winning and doing whatever was required/asked of him, saying "My job is to go out there and play, no matter when they put me out there," ahead of the matchup.
Hunter had only played in about 59% of the defensive plays in Jacksonville's Week 2 loss, while continuing to have a very minor role on offense.
But, against the Patriots, Hunter's workload continued to work up, with the former No. 2 overall pick playing in 45 defensive snaps and recording his first career interception.
With under a minute to play in the first half, and the Patriots threatening on Jacksonville's goalline, Hunter flipped the script, picking off a pass from Drake Maye in the endzone and forcing a touchback.
He and his teammates immediately began to celebrate together, with Hunter eventually getting his first-career interception ball back after a strange altercation with a New England staffer.
With his snap count continuing to rise, Hunter's production and the overall impact from Jacksonville's secondary will do the same.
To this point, Hunter has been a shutdown corner when available, grading within the top-5 in man coverage among all NFL defensive backs (90.3).
Alongside Los Angeles Rams star corner Trent McDuffie, Hunter is one of two players to be targeted multiple times against in man coverage and have a 0.0 passer rating allowed this season.
Of course, McDuffie has grown into one of the most highly-touted secondary players in the NFL, having signed a monster four-year, $124 million contract extension with the Rams back in March.
At the time, this was the biggest contract ever given to a defensive back.
While it remains to be seen how Hunter's numbers will hold up as he is given a bigger leash, this level of production so early into his NFL career is extremely promising.
Thankfully, Jacksonville has a strong group of primary defensive backs, like Jourdan Lewis and Montaric "Buster" Brown, who have also played strong coverage to this point.
Heading into an away matchup with Joe Burrow and the historically prolific Cincinnati Bengals offense, Hunter and the secondary will have their hands full.
Getting reps against two of the top receivers in the NFL in Ja'Marr Chase and Tee Higgins will be great opportunities for Hunter to face off against elite-level competition.
