Liam Coen was asked directly whether Travis Hunter's role grows as he works back from injury. He said he thought so — then attached a condition. That conditional is the whole story: the ramp is real, but it's a game-plan ramp, not a depth-chart promotion, and the word Coen chose for it tells you what kind of usage is coming.
The answer was a hedge wearing a yes
“If that's Travis getting more touches, then absolutely will,” Coen said.
That's ten words and zero commitments. Coaches who have decided a receiver's role is expanding say it with a number — a snap count, a package, “he's a full go,” “he's a starter now.” Coen routed the decision through win probability instead, which means Hunter's usage this week is opponent-dependent and revisable in-game. The subtext: nobody in that building is treating Hunter as a fixed piece of the plan yet.
Concrete implication: this does not break a tie on your waiver wire. If you're choosing between Hunter and a stable WR3 with a defined route share, Coen just told you the tiebreaker is still a week away.
“Touches” is not “targets”
Coen said touches — the broadest word in an offensive coordinator's vocabulary. Not targets. Not routes. Not snaps. That word is reserved for players who get the ball by design: motion, screens, quick game, the occasional alignment in the backfield. It builds a floor. It doesn't raise a ceiling.
The baseline matters. Hunter's 2025 line — 28 catches, 298 yards, 1 touchdown in 7 games — is 4.0 receptions and 42.6 yards per game. A manufactured-touch bump nudges those numbers up modestly; it doesn't manufacture a spike week unless targets are being diverted, and this room has no obvious slack. Brian Thomas Jr. (48-707-2 in 14 games), Parker Washington (58-847-5 in 16) and Jakobi Meyers (33-352-0 in seven with the Raiders) all hold established claims. More Hunter touches most plausibly comes out of the WR3/WR4 reps and the backs' receiving work — Bhayshul Tuten and LeQuint Allen Jr. each caught 10 passes last season — not out of BTJ's share.
The mechanism that would actually create volume
Coen was noticeably less comfortable on the run game. He conceded Denver “led the NFL in sacks” and that “we didn't run it great against them last year,” then walked through how Kansas City attacked them — does that match our personnel, if not, can we go back to last year — which is not the sound of a coordinator holding a clean plan. He closed that thread by asking for “Trevor and the receivers and the skill players to step up.”
That's the path to real targets for everyone here, Hunter included: an unsettled run plan against an elite front means more dropbacks, more quick game, more snaps for the third and fourth receivers. It's also why this shouldn't be treated as a throwaway week for the passing props. DraftKings lists the game at 7 to 7.5 points, and Jacksonville sits between +2500 (FanDuel) and +3000 (DraftKings) to win the Super Bowl. This staff believes it's a contender. Contenders' WR3s with ramping roles get priced late.
What to watch
Watch the first two offensive series for where Hunter lines up — slot, motion, or boundary — and whether he's on the field in 11 personnel alongside Thomas and Washington. If the touches are manufactured and the snaps are rotational, “I think so” was coachspeak and the market was right to shrug. If he's playing ahead of Meyers in three-receiver sets, the ramp is real, and the prop markets will be a week behind it.
Read the full transcript: Liam Coen Press Conference Transcript (2026-09-16)
