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By Cole Sullivan
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The Kansas City Chiefs (2-2) and Jacksonville Jaguars (3-1) are both coming off big Week 4 wins, setting the stage for an intriguing Week 5 showdown on "Monday Night Football."
Ahead of the matchup, Chiefs head coach Andy Reid spoke to the media on Thursday and was asked about Jaguars first-round rookie Travis Hunter, who has been adjusting to the rare challenge of playing both ways as a wide receiver and defensive back — a role that comes with plenty of difficulty, even for a Heisman Trophy winner.
“You get a good player, you’d love to be able to do that,” Reid said. “I think Troy Brown did it for a little bit… It takes a special guy to be able to jump in there and do that. My hat goes off to the kid. It’s hard being a rookie and knowing both sides of the ball.”
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Jaguars head coach Liam Coen continues to move slowly when it comes to the total snap count that Hunter is playing on both sides of the ball throughout a game. In Week 4, Hunter logged zero defensive snaps in the second half in Jacksonville's win over the San Francisco 49ers.
“I think we probably got a little — I don’t want to say impatient, but he had the one thing, he’s still been going through the process of it," Coen said this week. "I mean, we’re going to get him right back into it this week, and it’s great to have Montaric [Buster Brown] back…we have all the confidence in the world, in really, Travis and Buster coming back and Jarrian [Jones] giving us good reps. So, it’s great to have those guys all be able to go play.”
Through it all, Hunter has stayed relentlessly positive, keeping the spotlight on his role and his teammates rather than the noise.
“I love going out there...I’m excited to be able to do my job," Hunter stated.
With Hunter slowly ramping up his production, he's recorded 11 tackles through four games while also hauling in 13 receptions for 118 yards on offense, averaging 9.1 yards per catch.
He’s currently playing about 59% of the team’s offensive snaps and 39% of the defensive snaps — a tradeoff that may be necessary when trying to contribute on both sides of the ball the way he aspires to.
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