Hunter's First INT Caps Maye's Seven-Turnover Slump

Travis Hunter logged his first NFL interception in the end zone as Drake Maye was benched for Tommy DeVito during a lopsided Jaguars win, outlets report.

Jacksonville's two-way star Travis Hunter made the play of the day on Sunday, September 27, jumping a Drake Maye pass intended for Efton Chism and hauling in the first interception of his NFL career in the end zone with just over a minute left in the first half. nfl.com's Can't-Miss Play package and the Jaguars' own video hub both spotlighted the grab, with the club noting the interception 'stopped the scoring effort' and sent Jacksonville to halftime up 14-3, as NBC Sports' Josh Alper reported.

The surprise is who made the play and against whom. Hunter, the 2025 first-round pick who plays both wide receiver and defensive back, had never recorded a professional interception before this game — and he did it against Drake Maye, whom Bleacher Report's Julia Stumbaugh notes was the 2025 MVP runner-up after leading New England to a Super Bowl appearance last season.

The end-zone pick was not an isolated stumble. According to Bleacher Report, Maye committed his seventh turnover in three games on Sunday, and he threw a second interception — this one grabbed by Jarrian Jones, per the Jaguars' highlights — on the first play of a possession in the second half. NBC Sports counted five interceptions through Maye's first 10 quarters this season, after he threw eight in the entire 2025 regular season, and noted he also lost the ball on a first-quarter passing attempt that handed Jacksonville its first touchdown.

The clearest signal of how far things have slipped came in the fourth quarter: Bleacher Report reports that Maye was benched for Tommy DeVito with the Jaguars leading 35-6, after coach Mike Vrabel had already been shown on the broadcast having a sideline conversation with his quarterback following the second pick. Bleacher Report also notes Maye's lone touchdown of the season remains a short scoring pass to Eli Raridon in a season-opening 13-10 loss to Seattle, leaving him with a 1-to-6 touchdown-to-interception ratio through 11 quarters, per the outlet's account of fan reaction.

For New England, the stakes extend well beyond one lopsided afternoon. Bleacher Report frames the start as a brutal reversal for a quarterback expected to build on a Super Bowl run, and NBC Sports' own related coverage — a piece titled 'Why has Maye regressed so much to begin Year 3?' — shows the question is now a league-wide talking point rather than a local worry. For Jacksonville, Hunter's emergence on defense pairs with Trevor Lawrence throwing two second-quarter touchdown passes, as NBC Sports reported, turning a preseason curiosity into a genuine two-way asset.

Both storylines get their next test immediately. Meanwhile, Hunter's first-career interception — now canonized as a Can't-Miss Play on nfl.com and a highlight on the Jaguars' site — gives Jacksonville a marquee building block as the team tries, in NBC Sports' words, to do a better job protecting halftime leads than it did last week in Denver.