JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Missing his entire rookie season with a foot injury was tough for Jacksonville Jaguars, who ran back Travis Etienne Jr., but the 25th overall winner in 2021 managed to find a small silver lining.
At least he wasn’t as fully immersed as his teammates in Urban Meyer’s disastrous 11-month tenure, which ended just before 1 a.m. on December 16.
“When you just see the results, you definitely think, ‘phew, if there was a year to miss, I missed a great one,'” he said.
Jokes aside, Etienne is delighted to be back on the field for the start of the Jaguars’ off-season voluntary training program under new head coach Doug Pederson. He said he is still limited in some of his work in the weight room but does “the majority of things” in terms of working on the field and is 85-90% recovered from the Lisfranc injury to his left foot, which he suffered during a preseason game last August. He expects to be completely cleared by the time of training camp.
Etienne said the injury only bothers him after a long training session. Then it hurts a little.
1 relatives
“It’s actually crazy because I was talking to my mom about it the other day,” Etienne said. “If I didn’t know I had a screw in my foot, I wouldn’t be able to tell. I feel like this is a testament to where I am in my transition and how I am healing.
“The screw is there. I think I’ll take it out. I could leave it there forever. I know most people say leave it there, it never bothers them, but I just don’t want to screw with a screw for 40 years be old in my foot, really.”
Etienne is now taking the injury lightly, but he hasn’t been doing too well in the days and months following his surgery. The pain was quite severe for the first 48 hours and he could not put weight on his foot for six weeks, leaving him housebound and a little depressed.
It wasn’t until he was able to return to the Jaguars’ facility to begin rehab that he began to feel better.
“I didn’t realize it at the time, but I was kind of in a depressed state because I just wasn’t able to do the things I love to do,” Etienne said. “It was my foot, so there was nothing I could do. So it was really weird and I really didn’t realize how much it was costing me, but having my mom there somehow helped me to just stay in tune with myself and not let myself lose. Being able to go back into the building with the guys really helped me a lot, just seeing them every day and just living through them.
It’s too early to know how the Jaguars intend to use Etienne this season. Meyer envisioned a Percy Harvin-type role for Etienne as a rookie, similar to the way the San Francisco 49ers use Deebo Samuel. Etienne said he’d be fine with that but he may need to be the Jaguars’ feature early in the season if James Robinson hasn’t fully recovered from the Achilles injury he sustained last December.
Regardless of how the Jaguars use him, they need him to produce the kind of big plays he did at Clemson. The Jaguars had 31 big plays (carries of 20 yards or more and receptions of 30 yards or more) over the past two seasons, ranking bottom in the NFL.
Etienne was one of the most explosive players in the country during his four seasons at Clemson. He led all players in the NCAA with 55 carries for 20 or more yards from 2017-20. On those big plays, he hit 21 touchdowns and rushed for 2,053 yards, averaging 37.3 yards per rush. Etienne also had six receptions from 30 yards or more, giving him 61 explosive plays.
“I heard a few little things from my running back coach [on how he may be used in the offense],” said Etienne. “But I’m sure they plan to get my hands on the ball. I feel like a special player with the ball in my hands.”