Deion Sanders Jr. has poured some cold water on information that Eli Manning passed along about Travis Hunter’s practice “lore” when he was playing at Colorado.
According to Manning, Jacksonville Jaguars head coach Liam Coen informed him that Hunter only practiced with the defense and never with the offense during his time with the Buffaloes.
Sanders responded with a post on X, calling it a “lie” and stating that Hunter practiced “equally” on both sides of the ball.
After the Jaguars traded up in the draft to select Hunter with the No. 2 overall pick, details about his practice routine in college came out as the NFL club wanted to put together a plan for the two-way superstar.
The routine reportedly involved Hunter getting three days of practice with both the offense and defense from Wednesday through Friday during the season. He also designated rest days at Colorado on from Sunday through Tuesday each week.
Coen addressed the learning process for the coaching staff as they figured out how to manage Hunter’s workload during mandatory minicamp.
“We saw there was a span where maybe he practiced on offense. Let’s call it a Thursday because we didn’t do anything on the Fridays,” Coen told ESPN’s Michael DiRocco in August. “And then he had Friday, Saturday, Sunday, and then Monday, he was on defense. That’s four days without doing anything on offense. Well, we learned that it was too long. That’s too long to kind of go without doing anything on maybe the other side of the ball, so we learned something there.”
Coen said earlier in the summer that the coaching staff needed to make sure that “every minute” Hunter was in the building was “accounted for and trying to make sure that we maximize his time, our time so that we can ultimately get the best outcome.”
Entering the 2024 season at Colorado, ESPN’s Adam Rittenberg noted Hunter split his time in meetings and practices with the receivers and defensive backs.
Colorado cornerbacks coach Kevin Mathis told Rittenberg the practice split for Hunter was probably around 70-30 in favor of the defense.
The Jaguars have used Hunter more on offense than defense so far this season. He has played at least 50 percent of the offensive snaps in each of the first five games. His defensive snap count has been under 40 percent in three of the first five games.
Hunter had his best receiving game in Monday’s 31-28 win over the Kansas City Chiefs with 64 yards on three catches. He also recorded two solo tackles and a pass breakup on defense.
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