After being sidelined for the 2021 campaign due to injury, Jacksonville Jaguars running back Travis Etienne Jr. has his sights set on making a return to action in the 2022 season.

Etienne did not feature in a single regular season game for the Jaguars this past year due to a Lisfranc injury in his left foot suffered during preseason. Initially, there was optimism that Etienne would at the least be available to make his Jaguars debut in the latter stages of the season, as the NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport noted that the running back was provided with a four-month minimum timeline to when he could be cleared for in-game action. But in the end, the Jaguars opted for the conservative approach by placing him on season-ending injured reserve after he underwent surgery on his left foot ahead of Week 1.

Overall, Etienne is now inching closer to being at 100 percent for the Jaguars, which he spoke further about during Darien Rencher’s “The Player’s Club Podcast.”

“My foot is doing much better,” Etienne said. “Really just got back into the gym for the first time and I’m squatting for the first time this past week. So that’s been good and I’ve been running for a while now. I’m kind of getting to that 80 percent to 85 percent range.

“Definitely, just heading in the right direction, and as you know with this injury you have to take it day-by-day. You can’t skip no days.”

Etienne noted during his end-of-season press conference that he “expects” to be ready by training camp.

The Jaguars featured James Robinson as their starting running back for the second consecutive season. He logged 989 yards from scrimmage and eight total touchdowns in 14 games played, which included the notable 149 rushing yards and one rushing touchdown performance against the Tennessee Titans in the first half of the season. As with Etienne, the team is also keeping a close watch on Robinson, as he was sidelined in the late stages of the campaign due to an Achilles injury.

If Etienne and Robinson end up being cleared to return to in-game action by Week 1 of the 2022 season, they each may go on to be focal points in the offense along with quarterback Trevor Lawrence for new Jaguars head coach Doug Pederson.