JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (AP) — The Jacksonville Jaguars turned two wall-sized, walkthrough simulators into a giant, singular unit this offseason.
It’s where Travis Hunter gets most of his work while recovering from a knee injury that cut short his rookie season.
And, yes, he gets reps on offense and defense.
“That one works both ways,” he quipped Wednesday.
Speaking publicly for the first time since tearing a ligament in his right knee in October, Hunter said none of the recent speculation about his two-way usage moving forward bothers him.
“They’ve been doing that my whole career,” he said.
The Jaguars opened OTAs on Tuesday with Hunter working in a limited capacity. The 2024 Heisman Trophy winner and second overall pick in 2025 donned the same color jersey as the offense, had a play sheet in hand and was listening to calls through an earpiece. He even got into a few huddles and split out behind fellow receivers to run a simulated version of the play behind the line of scrimmage.
“He just needs to memory bank all those things so that when he is back moving around, he’s feeling good, he is flying around, he has it down,” quarterback Trevor Lawrence said. “I think he will. He’s been out there basically in the huddle every play. We’ve got a 12th guy. So, he’s been in the huddle listening. He’s locked in. He’s done a great job.”
Hunter spent time with local high school athletes at a Planet Fitness in Jacksonville to help the gym promote a free summer pass program that allows teens aged 14-19 to work for free beginning in June and running through the end of August.
Hunter joked that he might never have moved to Georgia had he had such a program growing up in South Florida.
“I wish I would have had this opportunity to be able to come to a gym where I don’t have to pay, don’t have to sign up for anything, just come in and work out, chill with my buddies in the gym, staying out of trouble,” he said.
The event was Hunter’s first media availability since a breakout performance against the Los Angeles Rams in London on Oct. 19. He caught eight passes for 101 yards and a touchdown in a 35-7 loss, and the Jaguars were planning to use him as their No. 1 receiver moving forward.
But he tore his lateral collateral ligament following a bye week and three days before the Jaguars played at Las Vegas. The Jaguars are being cautious with his return.
“We’re really at the mercy of the rehab and the docs in terms of what that looks like in the next steps of getting out on the grass,” coach Liam Coen said. “But really feel no pressure. I think he’s done a phenomenal job.”
The walkthrough wall allowed for much of his progress. Hunter estimates he can “burn out” about 40 reps during a 15-minute session.
“That’s accumulating a ton of reps that he’s not going to be able to get until he is cleared to go,” Coen said.
And the Jaguars insist Hunter will play both ways when he returns. General manager James Gladstone said in January that he expected Hunter to have a “higher emphasis” on defense in 2026.
NFL Network created a stir by suggesting Hunter might see the majority of his repetitions on defense, a notion the team and the player disputed. And it surely wasn’t a coincidence that Hunter spent the team’s first on-field workout solely with the offense.
His ultimate role is still to be determined, but the Jaguars expect him to be a factor alongside receivers Jakobi Meyers, Brian Thomas Jr. and Parker Washington as well potentially a starting cornerback opposite Montaric Brown.
He’s planning to spend equal time on both sides during OTAs and expects to be fully cleared by training camp.
“Not being on the field, you can’t retain a lot unless you go in there and be focused and try to learn as much as you can every single day because you’re not getting those live reps," he said. "I try to sneak in and get as much knowledge as I can from everybody and try to help the younger guys.”
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FILE - Jacksonville Jaguars wide receiver Travis Hunter (12) looks to the stands before an NFL football game against the Seattle Seahawks, Oct. 12, 2025, in Jacksonville, Fla. (AP Photo/Phelan M. Ebenhack, File)
FILE - Los Angeles Rams wide receiver Davante Adams (17) is challenged by Jacksonville Jaguars wide receiver Travis Hunter (12) during the second half of an NFL football game between the Los Angeles Rams and the Jacksonville Jaguars in London, Oct. 19, 2025. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung, File)
DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — Strikes killed at least seven people in Gaza City on Wednesday as Hamas confirmed that Israeli airstrikes the day before had killed the new leader of its military wing, less than two weeks after his predecessor also was killed.
According to a Hamas statement, Mohammed Odeh died in an airstrike on Tuesday, along with his wife and two of his children. Previously, Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz announced that the Israeli military had targeted and killed Odeh.
At least five people — including Odeh and his family members — were killed and 12 were injured in Tuesday’s strike on a market in Gaza City, local hospitals said. The attack came on the eve of Eid al-Adha, a major Muslim holiday.
More strikes in the city on Wednesday evening killed at least seven people, including two children and a woman. More than 20 people were wounded, including several children, according to Shifa hospital.
Video from the scene showed flames pouring from an upper-floor window of a building and bystanders rushing to carry injured people, including some children, to waiting ambulances.
The Israeli military said Wednesday evening it had launched strikes in the northern Gaza Strip, targeting two Hamas militants.
Thousands of people gathered Wednesday for the joint funeral of Odeh's family in Gaza City. Mourners covered the four bodies with green Hamas flags and marched from a mosque through the city, chanting and firing shots in the air. Some carried posters with Odeh's photo, emblazoned with the words “one of the chiefs of staffs of the Qassam Brigades,” referring to Hamas' military wing.
Hamas condemned the strike, and said Odeh had been active with the group for more than three decades and was part of the first generation that helped establish the movement’s military and armed wing.
Katz called Odeh “one of the architects” of the Oct. 7, 2023 attack on southern Israel that triggered the more than two-year war in Gaza. He said it was the fourth time Israel has killed the head of Hamas’ military wing since the start of the war. Izz al-Din al-Haddad, the previous head, was killed on May 16.
Katz said that Israel would continue to target Hamas leaders involved in the Oct. 7, 2023 attack. “We pledged that Hamas will not hold civilian or military rule,” he wrote on X.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who is preparing for elections in the fall, also warned that Israel will target everyone involved in the Oct. 7, 2023 attack.
The attack that killed Odeh came as Muslims prepared for Eid al-Adha, normally a joyous time of family gatherings and large meals.
The holiday is again subdued this year in Gaza, where the vast majority of people remain displaced and live in tents or temporary shelters after a devastating war. Around 90% of Gaza’s more than 2 million people have lost their homes, according to U.N. estimates, with most of them now sheltering in huge tent camps with rat infestations and pools of sewage. They are dependent on aid to survive.
Eid al-Adha, or “Feast of Sacrifice,” is an Islamic holiday celebrated by millions of Muslims across the globe. The four-day holiday, which begins during the Hajj pilgrimage, is also known as a time when children are given new clothes and gifts.
“This is not Eid ... we’re dead,” said Mahmoud Saqer, a displaced man from Khan Younis, who described people as being distressed by the ongoing human suffering and killings in the territory.
In Khan Younis and Gaza City, amid destroyed buildings, including a ruined mosque, people gathered for Eid prayers with few signs of celebration beyond a few clusters of balloons lining one street.
“There’s no Eid. My children were killed. Eid is only for the people who lost no one,” said Ayda Al-Banna, a displaced women from Gaza City, who prayed Eid prayers with her granddaughter.
A ceasefire reached between Israel and Hamas in October remains fragile. Israeli attacks have killed more than 900 Palestinians since the ceasefire took effect. Israel says its attacks are in response to violations by Hamas or threats to its soldiers, but Palestinian health officials say scores of civilians have been among the dead. Four Israeli soldiers have also been killed during this period in Gaza.
Israel launched its offensive in Gaza in response to the Hamas October 2023 attack that killed some 1,200 people and took 251 others hostage.
The Gaza Health Ministry says more than 72,803 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli fire. The ministry is part of Gaza’s Hamas-run government, but staffed by medical professionals who maintain and publish detailed records that are viewed as generally reliable by the international community.
Associated Press writer Sally Abou AlJoud in Beirut and Fatma Khaled contributed from Cairo.
Palestinians mourn over the body of Mohammad Odeh, whom Israel says was a leader of Hamas Qassam Brigades, a day after he was killed in an Israeli airstrike, during his funeral in Gaza City, Wednesday, May 27, 2026. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)
Palestinians mourn over the body of Mohammad Odeh, whom Israel says was a leader of Hamas Qassam Brigades, a day after he was killed in an Israeli airstrike, during his funeral in Gaza City, Wednesday, May 27, 2026. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)
Palestinians take photos with Islamic Jihad militants as they gather for Eid al-Adha prayers in Gaza City Wednesday, May 27, 2026. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)
Muslims worshipers gather for Eid al-Adha prayers in Gaza City Wednesday, May 27, 2026. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)
Muslims worshipers offer Eid al-Adha prayers in Gaza City Wednesday, May 27, 2026. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)
