Coach Doug Pederson said Monday that Etienne "got popped...pretty good" on his shoulder during Sunday's 37-34 win over the Colts, Garry Smitsof the Jacksonville Florida Times-Union reports.
Etienne logged 22 of a possible 58 snaps on offense Sunday en route to rushing six times for 17 yards and catching six of his seven targets for 43 yards in the contest, however Pederson said that Etienne's carries from scrimmage were limited to not put him more at risk. Meanwhile, Tank Bigsby (23 snaps) ran 13 times for 101 yards and two TDs and caught his only target for 28 yards. While this doesn't sound like an issue that will impact Etienne's status for this weekend's game against the Bears, there's a pretty good chance he'll be on the Jaguars' initial Week 6 injury report.
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Jaguars' Travis Etienne: Productive as receiver in win
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Etienne rushed six times for 17 yards and brought in six of seven targets for 43 yards in the Jaguars' 37-34 win over the Colts on Sunday.
Etienne shook off a shoulder injury he dealt with during the week to open the game in his usual lead-back role, but it was backfield mate Tank Bigsby who ultimately was the standout performer of the two on the ground. Etienne was outgained by a 101-17 margin on the ground, although he did partly make up for it with a season-best receiving line. Nevertheless, with Bigsby now looking like the more explosive of the two backs for two consecutive games and also logging seven more carries than Etienne on Sunday, it appears the Jaguars' ground game might be in true flux heading into a Week 6 matchup against the Bears in London.
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Jaguars' Travis Etienne: Cleared to play, as is Bigsby
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Etienne (shoulder) doesn't have an injury designation for Sunday's game against the Colts after logging three limited practices, Demetrius Harvey of the Florida Times-Union reports.
Etienne did enough to stave off an injury designation Friday, despite failing to reach full practice participation at any point during the week. Tank Bigsby (shoulder) followed the same practice regimen and also has been cleared to play. Bigsby rushed for 90 yards on just seven carries in the 24-20 Week 4 loss to Houston, while Etienne spent a chunk of the first half on the sideline due to his shoulder injury. Etienne figures to get the bulk of the rushing workload Sunday, but Bigsby's efficiency coupled with both players' shoulder injuries add some uncertainty to Jacksonville's backfield situation.
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Jaguars' Travis Etienne: Limited in practice
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Etienne (shoulder) was a limited practice participant Wednesday, Mia O'Brien of 1010 XL 92.5 FM Jacksonville reports.
The same goes for Tank Bigsby, who suffered his shoulder injury in a Week 2 loss to Cleveland and was limited to special teams for the rest of the game. Bigsby then played Weeks 3 and 4, taking on a bigger role this past Sunday after Etienne suffered a shoulder injury of his own early in the first quarter against Houston. Etienne returned later in the first half and ended up leading the Jacksonville running backs in snap share (52 percent) and carries (11), but Bigsby made the most of his seven carries with 90 rushing yards, including a 58-yard run in the second half. Etienne's limited practice participation to start the week tentatively puts both running backs on track to play this Sunday against the Colts.
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Jaguars' Travis Etienne: Plays through shoulder issue
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Etienne (shoulder) carried the ball 11 times for 50 yards and caught one of two targets for 10 yards in Sunday's 24-20 loss to the Texans.
The running back missed most of the first quarter with a shoulder issue, and while he was able to return to the contest, Etienne was overshadowed in the Jaguars' backfield by Tank Bigsby, who amassed 90 rushing yards on only seven carries. It's also the first time Etienne has failed to catch multiple passes in a regular-season game since Week 14 of the 2022 season. Bigsby's performance, and Jacksonville's winless record, could prompt the team to shake things up with a backfield timeshare in Week 5 against the Colts. However, if he's healthy, Etienne still figures to be the Jaguars' top option on the ground.
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Jaguars' Travis Etienne: Returns to contest
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Etienne (shoulder) returned to Sunday's game against the Texans.
Etienne had been forced out of the game with a shoulder injury, but he was able to return to the Jaguars' Week 4 backfield, which also includes Tank Bigsby and D'Ernest Johnson.
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Jaguars' Travis Etienne: Efficient in lopsided loss
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Etienne rushed 11 times for 68 yards and brought in four of six targets for 17 yards in the Jaguars' 47-10 loss to the Bills on Monday night.
Considering game script turned against the ground attack fairly quickly and the Bills defense was flying around with confidence as a result, Etienne had a very productive performance from an efficiency standpoint. The fourth-year back's rushing yardage, reception total and reception yardage were all season highs, as was his target count. Etienne has topped out at 13 carries in terms of a single-game high over the first three contests, however, as Jacksonville has often been in the trail position. Next up for the versatile veteran is a Week 4 road divisional clash against the Texans on Sunday.
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Jaguars' Travis Etienne: Finds end zone again
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Etienne rushed the ball 13 times for 52 yards and a touchdown in Sunday's 18-13 loss to the Browns. He added three receptions on four targets for six yards.
Etienne accounted for 13 of the 19 carries recorded by Jacksonville's skill-position players, in part due to the mid-game departure of Tank Bigsby (shoulder). Etienne had a middling performance from an efficiency perspective, though he managed long runs of 20 and 12 yards and also punched in the team's lone touchdown from four yards away and now has found the end zone in each of his first two games of the campaign. Bigsby failed to record a carry before his exit, but if he proves to be healthy for a Week 3 matchup against Buffalo, Etienne is likely to be capped at around 15 carries once again.
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Jaguars' Travis Etienne: Key fumble in Week 1 loss
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Etienne rushed 12 times for 44 yards and a touchdown and brought in two of three targets for 15 yards in the Jaguars' 20-17 loss to the Dolphins on Sunday. He also lost a fumble.
Etienne's season-opening experience soured significantly with a game-changing fumble, with the third-year back losing the ball at the end of a 10-yard run down to Miami's three-yard line to waste a six-play, 94-yard drive late in the third quarter. Jacksonville appeared on the precipice of what could have been a game-sealing touchdown considering the Jaguars were already up 17-7, but the resulting touchback from the end-zone recovery gave the Dolphins immediate life. Etienne also notably saw backfield mate Tank Bigsby, who had a washout of a rookie 2023 campaign, match him in carries and out-gain him by 29 rushing yards, but whether that was an outlier will only be known in coming games. Etienne will aim to atone for the forgettable afternoon when the Jags host the Browns in Week 2 next Sunday.
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Jaguars' Travis Etienne: Looks good in preseason finale
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Etienne rushed the ball seven times for 46 yards in Friday's 31-0 preseason win over Atlanta. He added one reception on one target for three yards.
Etienne and the majority of the Jaguars' starters took the field for two drives and experienced plenty of success. More interesting than the stat line was Etienne's usage, as he tallied seven carries to Tank Bigsby's three on the opening two possessions. Bigsby came on the field for a pair of short-yardage situations -- he was stuffed on the first -- but Etienne handled the vast majority of the workload. Jacksonville's coaching staff has discussed the desire to lighten Etienne's usage in 2024, but he'll be the clear lead back and could shoulder a very significant workload until Bigsby proves he can have success in the NFL.
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Jaguars' Travis Etienne: Workload to decline?
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Doug Pederson said during OTAs that the Jaguars want to lean on Etienne less during the 2024 campaign in order to keep him healthy, Michael DiRocco of ESPN reports.
Pederson said it's "hard to put necessarily a rep count" on Etienne's weekly touches, but that looking ahead to 2024 season the coaching staff is "making sure [Tank Bigsby] gets opportunities to get out there and take some of the pounding off of [Etienne]." As DiRocco notes, Etienne finished 2023 accounting for 76 percent of the running back touches for Jacksonville, a high workload that coincided with a disappointing rookie showing for Bigsby. If either D'Ernest Johnson or Bigsby can emerge as a more consistent backup, fantasy managers shouldn't be surprised if Etienne's total touches do indeed decrease this season. While that would certainly represent a blow to Etienne's fantasy ceiling, the 2021 first-round pick does his damage more with efficiency and speed than grinding out carries between the tackles. Jacksonville picked up Etienne's fifth-year option earlier this offseason, which keeps him under contract through 2025.
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Jaguars' Travis Etienne: Fifth-year option picked up
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The Jaguars officially exercised Etienne's fifth-year option Monday.
GM Trent Baalke said Saturday that Jacksonville would pick up the fifth-year options of both Etienne and quarterback Trevor Lawrence, and the team has now made both moves official. Since missing his entire rookie season due to a Lisfranc injury, Etienne has compiled back-to-back 1,000-yard rushing campaigns and totaled 17 touchdowns over the last two seasons. Now signed through the 2025 season, Etienne is locked in atop Jacksonville's backfield for the next two years, with Tank Bigsby and D'Ernest Johnson available to back him up.
Etienne rushed the ball 16 times for 57 yards in Sunday's 28-20 loss to the Titans. He added five receptions on six targets for 30 yards.
Etienne was scripted out of rushing attempts in the second half with the Jaguars chasing the lead, though he still managed to top 1,000 rushing yards for the second time in as many pro seasons. He also matched his season high with five receptions -- his first such performance came in Week 1 -- and ended the campaign with 476 receiving yards and 58 receptions, both of which were significant improvements over his rookie season. Given his improvement in his second year, it's almost certain that Etienne will enter 2024 as Jacksonville's lead back with the chance to work effectively as both a rusher and pass catcher.
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Jaguars' Travis Etienne: Tallies 10th touchdown
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Etienne rushed the ball 14 times for 35 yards and a touchdown in Sunday's 31-27 loss to the Browns. He added four receptions on four targets for 37 yards.
Etienne played through a rib injury that had him questionable leading up to Sunday's contest and accounted for 14 of the team's 17 touches by running backs. He was inefficient with those touches by averaging just 2.5 yards per carry, though he did manage a long run of 16 yards midway through the first quarter and also found the end zone on a one-yard dive late in the third quarter -- his 10th total score of the campaign. Etienne was also encouragingly involved as a pass catcher and has exactly four receptions in each of his last three games. While his workload isn't in question, he will face another tough defense in a Week 15 matchup against the Ravens.
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Jaguars' Travis Etienne: Expected to play against Cleveland
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Etienne (ribs) is likely to play against the Browns on Sunday, Adam Schefter of ESPN reports.
Etienne has been dealing with an injury to his ribs since getting hurt against Houston in Week 12, but he was able to suit up last Monday in a loss to Cincinnati and appears set to do so again Sunday against Cleveland. The talented running back is likely to have quarterback Trevor Lawrence available to get the ball to him, as Lawrence is trending toward playing despite dealing with a high-ankle sprain. Etienne has only one 100-yard rushing game on his ledger this season, but he's established a reliable floor with at least 70 all-purpose yards in all but three of his 12 contests thus far.
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Jaguars' Travis Etienne: Still dealing with rib injury
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Etienne (ribs) was a limited practice participant Wednesday.
Etienne played through the same injury Monday against Cincinnati, taking 15 touches for 79 yards and a touchdown in a game that saw quarterback Trevor Lawrence suffer a high-ankle sprain. The Jaguars haven't ruled Lawrence out for Sunday's game against Cleveland, but that could end up happening later in the week. If so, Etienne might be leaned on even more than usual, albeit within the context of a weaker-than-usual offense that's missing Lawrence, wideout Christian Kirk (core) and potentially left tackle Walker Little (hamstring).
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Jaguars' Travis Etienne: Scores TD prior to Lawrence injury
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Etienne (ribs) rushed 11 times for 45 yards and a touchdown while catching all four of his targets for 34 yards in Monday's 34-31 overtime loss to the Bengals.
Etienne capped Jacksonville's first drive with a four-yard rushing touchdown but finished with his second-fewest rushing attempts and third-fewest rushing yards of the season, perhaps due to the lingering effects of the rib injury that limited his practice participation heading into the game. Trevor Lawrence (ankle) accounted for the team's next three scores with two passing touchdowns and a quarterback sneak prior to exiting in the fourth quarter. Etienne's 19-yard catch on a pass from backup quarterback C.J. Beathard helped set up a game-tying field goal in the final minute of regulation, but the Bengals kicked a game-winning field goal after Jacksonville failed to score on the first drive of overtime, dropping the Jaguars to 8-4 heading into a Week 14 road game against the Browns.
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Jaguars' Travis Etienne: Questionable, expected to play
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Etienne (ribs) is listed as questionable for Monday's game against the Bengals, but head coach Doug Pederson is expecting the running back to play, Michael DiRocco of ESPN.com reports.
The injury designation leaves open the possibility Etienne could miss the primetime matchup, but Pederson seemed relatively confident following Saturday's practice the third-year back would be available. Expect the backup, D'Ernest Johnson, to still be a factor in the game plan, particularly if the Jaguars jump out to a commanding lead early on. Official confirmation regarding Etienne's status will arrive upon the release of Jacksonville's inactives ahead of the team's 8:15 p.m. ET kickoff Monday.
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Jaguars' Travis Etienne: Limited by rib issue
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Etienne was listed as a limited participant at practice Thursday due to a rib injury.
Jaguars head coach Doug Pederson told Demetrius Harvey of The Florida Times-Union earlier Thursday that Etienne was day-to-day with a chest injury, but Mia O'Brien of 1010 XL 92.5 FM Jacksonville confirms that the running back is indeed managing a rib issue. Etienne now has two more chances to increase his practice participation ahead of Monday's game against the Bengals, but O'Brien notes that the Jaguars' leading rusher sounded encouraged Thursday regarding his Week 13 availability.
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Jaguars' Travis Etienne: Day-to-day with chest injury
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Coach Doug Pederson said Thursday that Etienne (chest) is day-to-day, Demetrius Harvey of The Florida Times-Union reports.
Pederson said Etienne will practice Thursday, which is a positive sign. The elusive running back managed to play through his chest injury during Sunday's 24-21 win over the Texans, though he briefly left the field in the first half. Fantasy managers will need to closely monitor Etienne's practice reps heading into Monday's primetime matchup against the Bengals. If Etienne ends up missing any time due to the injury, veteran D'Ernest Johnson and rookie Tank Bigsby could get a chance to show what they can do with a significant backfield workload.
