Pete Thamel: Travis Hunter 'on track to play' Friday night vs. Stanford

The Colorado Buffaloes are about to get their two-way star back, as Travis Hunter’s return is imminent.

According to ESPN’s Pete Thamel, Hunter is “on track” to play on Friday against the Stanford Cardinal, which would be his first game since getting injured against the Colorado State Rams.

“Colorado star Travis Hunter is on track to play tonight against Stanford (ESPN 10 pm). The staff will keep an eye on him pregame, but he remains on target to play on both offense and defense,” tweeted Thamel. “His snap count will be monitored, as he lasted played in a game on Sept. 16.”

Moreover, Hunter has practiced this week, and Colorado coach Deion Sanders pointed out how good he looked earlier this week, considering he hasn’t played in a couple weeks.

“Travis looks good,” Sanders said. “Shoot, Travis is Travis, man. God don’t make too many of those. He’s most likely going to play. We’ve got to see how he practices tomorrow. Today was a day off for him. You can’t just work him, work him, work him. He had to take it easy today — he practiced both ways yesterday because that’s who he is. He has the protection on his ribs. 

“And we’ve got to see how he goes through practice tomorrow. I promise you, he’ll be in my office before I get there tomorrow waiting on me, telling me how much he wants to play.”

Deion Sanders on if Travis Hunter will be on a ‘pitch count’: ‘Travis is the kind of guy, you just let him go’

As for whether Hunter will be on a “pitch count” of some kind to ease back into the game, Sanders shot that down right away. He said Hunter’s mentality is to be on the field as much as possible, and a pitch count wouldn’t be an effective way to bring him back up to game speed.

“No. No, no, no,” Sanders said. “Travis is the kind of guy, you just let him go. You can’t do that with him. He’s not that kind of guy. It’s like when pro scouts come and ask me, should we draft him as a receiver [or] a defensive back? I say, you’ve got to draft him as both. If you play him on one side, you’re not going to get the best out of him. He’s a grown man out there playing amongst boys.”

Alas, Travis Hunter dazzled as a two-way standout through the first few games of Sanders’ tenure in Colorado. He not only has 16 receptions for 213 yards on offense, but added nine tackles and an interception on defense prior to his injury.

On3’s Nick Kosko contributed to this article.