Hunter had surgery to repair his LCL in November, halting his debut and preventing him from finishing the Jaguars’ promising 2025 campaign in which Jacksonville won the AFC South.
Injured in practice, Hunter had his best game offensively, hauling in eight receptions for 101 yards with his first (and only) touchdown catch of the year in a loss to the Los Angeles Rams.
“It was just unfortunate to get hurt like that in a bye week practice when he had just come off a 100-yard game,” Coen said. “It obviously caused us to pivot in a way and it was very frustrating, but he’s the person, the type of person who will recover from this.”
In seven games, Hunter posted 28 catches for 298 yards along with 15 tackles and three pass breakups. He took shots on both sides of the ball in every game, with at least 20 on offense and defense in four of them.
The Jaguars and first-year general manager James Gladstone traded to the Cleveland Browns to take Hunter No. 2 overall, seeing him as a special and natural talent.
“Without a lot of training, you’re just like, ‘Go play. And just go watch,'” he said. “Yes, it’s certainly different; the way he moves, the way he anticipates, the way he feels coverage, the way he finds an area in the attack – he’s a football player.
After a 13-4 campaign under first-year coach Coen in which quarterback Trevor Lawrence returned to the Pro Bowl and was a Finals MVP, the Jaguars are on the upswing as a team on the rise. Having rising talent — on both sides of the ball — returning to the fold should bode even better for Jacksonville’s fortunes.