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The Jacksonville Jaguars' very-bad, no-good season got a little better today with the news of the impending return of running back Travis Etienne Jr.
“[Jaguars] coach Doug Pederson tells reporters that he ‘feels good' that RB Travis Etienne Jr., dealing with a hamstring injury, will be back this week,” NFL Network's Ian Rapoport wrote on X, formerly Twitter.
During the Jaguars' 35-16 loss to the Chicago Bears on Oct. 13 in London, Etienne left the game with a hamstring injury, which kept him out of the next two games as well — a 32-16 Jacksonville win vs. the New England Patriots and then a 30-27 loss to the Green Bay Packers on Sunday.
In the five full games he has played this season, Etienne is averaging 46.2 rushing yards on 10.6 carries and 18.2 receiving yards on 3.2 catches. He has scored 2 touchdowns, both rushing, this season.
Although it has been a relatively slow start to the year for Etienne in 2024, the Clemson product proved his worth in each of his first two seasons in the NFL.
As a rookie in 2022, he averaged more than 5 yards per carry and rushed for 1,125 yards and 5 touchdowns, in addition to 316 receiving yards. In his second season, Etienne again surpassed the 1,000-yard mark; he rushed for 1,008 yards and 11 touchdowns, as well as 476 receiving yards and a touchdown.
But the Jaguars may be too far gone this season for Etienne's return to make much of a difference. Only two teams — the Carolina Panthers and Tennessee Titans — currently have worse records than Jacksonville, which has defeated the Indianapolis Colts and New England Patriots for their two wins.
The schedule doesn't get any easier either; the Jags visit the Philadelphia Eagles this weekend before hosting the Minnesota Vikings. Then Jacksonville plays in Detroit vs. the Lions, who have been touted as the NFC's best team, before coming back home to face the Texans in an AFC South showdown.
Earlier this month, Jaguars owner Shad Khan voiced his support for Pederson, who led the team to the playoffs in his first season in 2022 but then oversaw a late-season collapse in 2023 that resulted in the Jags missing the postseason. Since the beginning of December, Jacksonville is 3-11.
