Travis Hunter Undergoes Knee Surgery Ending Rookie Season With Jaguars

Bonisiwe Shabane

-Nov 18, 2025, 9:30 AM

travis hunter undergoes knee surgery ending rookie season with jaguars

Travis Hunter's season is officially over. The No. 2 overall pick underwent season-ending knee surgery to repair his LCL, NFL Network Insider Ian Rapoport reported on Tuesday, per sources informed of the procedure. There was no additional damage to the injured knee, and Hunter is expected to return to football activities within six months, Rapoport added. It's a disaster scenario for the Jags, who initially hoped that the knee injury suffered in practice two weeks ago would be a short-term issue. Hunter was placed on injured reserve, ruling him out for at least four contests.

Instead, his rookie campaign is over after just seven games. The Jaguars traded up in the 2025 NFL Draft to select the two-way Heisman Trophy winner, viewing him as a culture-altering talent under new coach Liam Coen. Jacksonville shipped its 2026 first-rounder to Cleveland as part of the deal to land Hunter. Chris Myers and Mark Schlereth discussed the Seattle Seahawks' win against a tough Jacksonville Jaguars team. Travis Hunter's rookie season with the Jacksonville Jaguars has ended early. The Jaguars announced Tuesday that Hunter will miss the remainder of the season after undergoing surgery to repair the lateral collateral ligament (LCL) in his right knee.

"Beyond the LCL, there was no additional damage to the knee, which Hunter injured during practice on Oct. 30. The procedure was performed by Dr. Dan Cooper and Jaguars team physician Dr. Kevin Kaplan in Dallas," the team said in a statement. CLICK HERE FOR MORE SPORTS COVERAGE ON FOXNEWS.COM

Travis Hunter's rookie season has come to an end. The Jaguars' wideout/defensive back underwent knee surgery on Tuesday morning that has effectively ended his 2025 season. Specifically, Hunter's surgery was to repair his LCL. He is expected to return to football activities within six months, according to ESPN. The No. 2 overall pick in April's draft, Hunter was placed on injured reserve on Oct.

31 after suffering a non-contact injury during practice. At the time, the Jaguars gave no indication that Hunter's injury was potentially season-ending. "You just feel bad for the guy, for the kid, for our team, for everything," Jaguars coach Liam Coen said at the time. "But he's in good spirits right now. Minor setback for a major comeback. That's just the way it's gotta be."

The reigning Heisman Trophy and Biletnikoff Award winner, Hunter caught 28 of 45 targets for 298 yards and one touchdown in seven games this season. On defense, Hunter tallied 11 tackles, three pass breakups and a fumble recovery. Hunter was enjoying an uptick in production just prior to getting hurt as the Jaguars made a concerted effort to get him more involved offensively. He set season-highs with 8 receptions (on 14 targets) for 101 yards and a score in his most recent game, a 35-7 loss to the Rams in Week 7. The Jacksonville Jaguars wide receiver and cornerback underwent knee surgery Tuesday to repair his LCL, the team announced. He will miss the rest of the season, and will be sidelined for about six months recovering.

Hunter is expected to be available for the start of the season next fall. Hunter went down with a non-contact injury in practice last month, and has been sidelined since. The Jaguars put him on injured reserve, and he's missed their past two games as a result. While initial testing indicated his ACL was still intact after the practice incident, the injury still required surgery and will now prematurely end his first season in the league. Hunter won the Heisman Trophy last season at Colorado, and was selected by the Jaguars with the No. 2 overall pick in the NFL Draft earlier this spring.

He had 298 receiving yards and a touchdown in seven games. He was coming off his best offensive game before the injury. The 22-year-old had 101 receiving yards on eight catches, both career-highs, and scored his first career touchdown in Jacksonville's loss to the Los Angeles Rams on Oct. 19. [Get more Jaguars news: Jacksonville team feed] The two-way player played 162 of his 486 total snaps at cornerback.

He had 15 tackles and three pass deflections on the season. The Jacksonville Jaguars won't have star cornerback and wide receiver Travis Hunter for the remainder of the 2025 campaign. According to NFL Network's Ian Rapoport, Hunter had season-ending surgery to repair an LCL injury and is expected to be able to resume football activities in six months. "Sources: Jaguars star CB/WR Travis Hunter underwent season-ending knee surgery, with eyes set on 2026. It was an LCL repair. He’s expected to return within 6 months to full football activities," Rapoport reported.

Hunter sustained the injury in the Week 7 loss to the Los Angeles Rams, which also happened to be the best game of his career when he reeled in eight catches for 101 yards. It was initially believed that Hunter had avoided a serious injury, but clearly that was not the case and instead he'll be on the shelf for a long time. Travis Hunter remains on the Jaguars’ injured reserve at this time, and he will not return in 2025. The two-way rookie recently underwent season-ending knee surgery, Ian Rapoport of NFL Network reports. Rapoport specifies this was an LCL repair. No other ligaments were damaged in Hunter’s recent injury, he adds.

As a result, a six-month timeline is in place for Hunter to receive full medical clearance. The Jaguars have since confirmed the expectation for Hunter to be ready for full football participation again in six months. In the meantime, Jacksonville will move forward without a key contributor on both sides of the ball. Considering Hunter’s injury sequence — on a noncontact play at practice — and his importance to this Jaguars regime’s mission, this shutdown is not too surprising. The 2024 Heisman winner is under contract through 2028, and barring the two-way player entering full-on bust territory, the deal will run through 2029 once his fifth-year option is exercised. Jacksonville will take a big-picture approach at this stage of the former college phenom’s pro career.

The Jakobi Meyers trade hinted at this IR stay lasting longer than the four-game minimum, and the Jags also played without Brian Thomas Jr. in Week 10. Thomas is not on IR, and the team has seen promising work from Parker Washington. Though, this season has not brought the Trevor Lawrence turnaround the organization hoped. The former No. 1 overall pick has remained inconsistent, and the Jags’ loss Sunday hurt their chances of booking a wild-card berth.

The team remains in playoff contention, but Lawrence will need to play better for the club to realize those aspirations. With a lengthy rehab process ending Hunter’s rookie season, his NFL debut will go down as a disappointment. The Colorado product finishes the year with 28 receptions for 298 yards. He finishes Year 1 with a 67% snap share on offense and a 34% participation rate on defense. Jacksonville Jaguars two-way star Travis Hunter underwent season-ending surgery, per NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport. It was reportedly an LCL repair.

Rapoport reported Hunter is expected to return full football activities within six months. Hunter suffered the injury while playing defense at a Jaguars practice in late October. The Jaguars placed Hunter on injured reserved on Oct. 31. Hunter was the No. 2 overall pick in the 2025 NFL Draft this spring.

In the Jaguars’ 35-7 loss to the Los Angeles Rams on Oct. 19—Hunter’s last outing before the injury—he recorded a career-high eight catches for 101 yards, while scoring his first NFL touchdown. “Feel bad for the guy, for the kid, for our team, for everything, but he’s in good spirits right now. Minor setback for a major comeback. That’s just the way it’s got to be,” Jaguars head coach Liam Coen said in October. “It is definitely not ideal timing.

“… Not that any injuries are ever ideal timing, but got to believe the makeup, his general attitude towards life and how he handles dealing with specific situations—I have a lot of belief in... Jaguars rookie Travis Hunter will miss the rest of the 2025 season after undergoing surgery on his right LCL. Mike Carlson / Getty Images Jacksonville Jaguars rookie and two-way player Travis Hunter underwent surgery to repair an LCL injury in his right knee and will miss the rest of the season, the team announced Tuesday. The wide receiver/cornerback is expected to resume “full football activities” within six months. Hunter sustained the injury during practice on Oct.

30 and was initially placed on the injured reserve list. The team said he did not sustain any additional damage beyond the LCL. — JaguarsPR (@JaguarsPR) November 11, 2025 Hunter, who Jacksonville traded up to draft No. 2 in the 2025 NFL Draft, has been working to become the NFL’s first full-time two-way player in roughly 60 years.

Travis Hunter Undergoes Knee Surgery Ending Rookie Season With Jaguars

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