Mina Kimes believes the Jacksonville Jaguars should make a significant adjustment after rookie wide receiver Travis Hunter suffered an injury this week.
As the first pick of the 2025 NFL Draft, Hunter has shown strides on both sides of the ball as a receiver and cornerback. He was coming off of his best offensive game despite the team's loss to the Los Angeles Rams in Week 8, scoring his first career touchdown.
However, he suffered a knee injury during practice that will have him miss the next four weeks. Kimes reacted to the news during Friday's NFL on ESPN segment, believing that the team should rely on the run game more frequently now.
“I was watching him thinking, this is going to look so much better in December than it did in September. But now we won't get to see that for the Jacksonville Jaguars. Obviously, you need the secondary pass catchers to step up. I would argue they gotta get back to running the football the way they did the first few weeks of the season. Something I thought Liam Cohen did an excellent job at Tampa Bay was making adjustments in the run game to the personnel he had,” Kimes said.
“This offensive line is not as good as the one he had in Tampa, but he has to find answers. (…) Brenton Strange, their tight end will be back, I believe eligible for Week 11. The more I think about it, and the more I think about what I saw for them the first month of season, he is really important in this offense, both as a pass catcher, but also equally important as a blocker. He was such a big part of what they were doing on the ground. So I think his return will help them be a more balanced offense, and I think they can build off of that going forward.”
“They gotta get back to running the football the way they did the first few weeks of the season.”@minakimes breaks down where the Jaguars need to improve ✍️ pic.twitter.com/vJMSCRAnnN
— NFL on ESPN (@ESPNNFL) October 31, 2025
What's next for Jaguars after Travis Hunter's injury
Mina Kimes understands that losing Travis Hunter will limit the Jaguars' potency in the passing game. This explains why she is advocating for them to utilize the run game with Trevor Etienne Jr. leading the unit.
Throughout seven games in the season, Hunter has caught 28 passes for 298 yards and a touchdown. On defense, he has made 15 tackles and three pass deflections.
Jacksonville stands with a 4-3 record, a solid start in contrast to past seasons. They hold the second spot in the AFC South Division standings. The team is above the Houston Texans and Tennessee Titans while trailing the Indianapolis Colts. In terms of the AFC standings, they sit at eighth place. They are above the Texans and Cincinnati Bengals while trailing the Kansas City Chiefs and Los Angeles Chargers.
The Jaguars will continue preparation for their upcoming matchup, being on the road. They face the Las Vegas Raiders on Nov. 2 at 4:05 p.m. ET.
