Jacksonville Jaguars unsure if Travis Hunter, starters will suit up against Saints Sunday

The Jacksonville Jaguars will get another look at their 90-man roster ahead of the 2025 season against the New Orleans Saints on Sunday, Aug. 17.

That could be without rookie standout WR/CB Travis Hunter.

“Just upper body deal a little bit and just precautionary," Jaguars head coach Liam Coen said of the injury. Jacksonville-New Orleans is scheduled for a 1 p.m. start and will be aired locally on CBS47.

The Jaguars only played the majority of their projected starters for a series against the Pittsburgh Steelers in preseason Week 1. After getting a taste of football last week, it remains to be seen whether or not the starters will play. Coen said the team was undecided and would make a decision after he learns about his team's health.

“We're still kind of working through it. As of right now, we're going to go meet about it currently here in the next half hour. So have a better idea. We just have to get a full totality of the injuries and we went pretty hard the last few days in terms of Tuesday and yesterday, so we're going to go meet on that right now," Coen said Friday.

While evaluating the talent of the roster is expected, the franchise's biggest evaluations will come down to the simple aspects of the game, following the rules.

Travis Hunter injury: Jacksonville Jaguars rookie misses parts of practice (upper body)

The Jaguars have struggled mightily this training camp in the penalty department, including multiple pre-snap penalties at practices and during the team's loss to the Steelers last week. Jacksonville committed eight total penalties, including half of those on the offensive side of the ball.

The team conducted its second scrimmage of camp a few days later and the results were arguably worse, with multiple plays blown dead before the snap due to penalties on either side of the ball, but particularly on offense. Coen has expressed his displeasure multiple times, including just ahead of the team's game against New Orleans.

On Friday, Coen blamed some of the mental mistakes on fatigue.

"I just thought, again, the same issue that has crept up a number of times has been the pre snaps. Pre snaps and I don't know, we have six drops again, I think. May have been an eight? I almost thought it was eight. So, that's fatigue," Coen said.

Travis Hunter injured, undetermined if he will play vs. Saints

Jaguars cornerback/wide receiver Travis Hunter seems unlikely to suit up Sunday against New Orleans due to an upper-body injury. Coen did not disclose when Hunter sustained the injury and noted that he wasn't sure if the rookie would suit up.

Hunter is expected to play a large role on both sides of the field for Jacksonville. Up to this point in training camp, that much has come to fruition, and during the team's first preseason game, Hunter played 11 offensive snaps and eight defensive snaps. He's flipped between the two sides of the field during practice.

The next time Hunter is likely to suit up could come during the team's joint practice opportunity against the Miami Dolphins next week. But Coen did not completely rule him out.

"We don't know yet," he said.

Travis Etienne excited for role under Liam Coen

Jaguars running back Travis Etienne has not been the most popular player on the field named Travis this training camp, but he has shown off his skills in a big way, especially as he's used in Coen's offense.

Etienne was asked about his role in the offense and moving around more often than he has in the past.

“It just expanded as him using me as a playmaker. He just lets me go out there and do what I do best. Get the ball in my hands, be in space, make guys miss, go out there, score touchdowns and use my strengths and building on my weaknesses. I feel like that’s what I love. Moving around, I like that because now we have all of our threats on the field at one time. You’ve got to watch out for all the guys," Etienne said.

"Obviously, they’re going to have eyes for me, so somebody else is getting the ball, or me just doing different things. We’re not predictable, and that’s going to be really big for us moving down the line because at some point, the season is going to come down to just executing."

Maason Smith returns to the practice field. Will he play Sunday?

Earlier in the week, the Jaguars activated 2024 second-round draft pick, defensive lineman Maason Smith, off the team's Active/Physically Unable to Perform list. Smith was placed on the list just ahead of camp starting in July and has rehabbed with a sleeve on his leg for weeks.

Now, the pass-rushing defensive tackle is entering the acclimation portion of his return, slated to potentially play on Sunday against New Orleans.

Last year, Smith had an up-and-down season, starting the year as a healthy scratch in Week 2 before sustaining an ankle injury weeks later that further pushed him to the inactives list. Smith finally returned to full-time action in Week 13 when his production doubled from the first five games he played in.

During the first six weeks of the season, Smith played in five games and totaled five tackles, two quarterback hits, one sack and one pass breakup. When he returned to action for the final six games of the season, Smith accounted for 12 tackles, three tackles for loss, two sacks, two quarterback hits and two pass breakups.

Will Trevor Lawrence play and who won't play against Saints?

As of Friday, it is not known yet who won't suit up against the Saints. However, players who are coming off injury, including defensive lineman Maason Smith, don't have the momentum to suit up just yet.

Other players who are dealing with injuries are: guard Chuma Edoga, tackle Anton Harrison, defensive tackle Maason Smith, corners Caleb Ransaw and Montaric Brown, linebacker Jalen McLeod, Tyson Campbell, Cole Van Lanen and Arik Armstead.

Demetrius Harvey is the Jacksonville Jaguars reporter for the Florida Times-Union. You can follow him on X, formerly known as Twitter, at @Demetrius82 or on Bluesky @ Demetrius.

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This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Jaguars' unsure team's starters, Travis Hunter will play Sunday