Admin October 14, 2024
NFL Week 6 Overreactions: Cowboys, Saints and Jaguars get blown out
Mackenzie Salmon breaks down the top storylines from Week 6 in the NFL.
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Travis Etienne Jr. has endured a tough start to the 2024 NFL season. It got even worse after he suffered a hamstring injury in the Jacksonville Jaguars‘ Week 6 loss to the Chicago Bears.
Etienne entered the contest with a shoulder problem, but the hamstring issue popped up at some point in the first half. As a result, the fifth-year running back played just 11 offensive snaps in the 35-16 defeat. He was largely a negative presence, losing one yard on three carries and failing to catch his lone target before exiting the game.
When will Etienne be back? The Jaguars haven’t provided a firm timetable for his return, but it seems like he will need to miss at least a week of action before potentially returning to the field.
Here’s what to know about Etienne’s hamstring and when he might return from the soft-tissue injury:
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How long is Travis Etienne out?
Doug Pederson announced in a Monday news conference that Etienne was “week-to-week” because of his hamstring injury. He also revealed that the running back suffered the injury while running a deep passing route early in the game, per the Jaguars’ Mia O’Brien.
Typically, earning a “week-to-week” designation in the NFL means that a player will miss at least one game. As such, Etienne should be viewed as doubtful for Jacksonville’s Week 7 game against the New England Patriots in London. His status beyond that is murky.
That said, so long as Etienne avoids an IR placement, he shouldn’t miss more than three games. That would put him on track to return by Week 10 against the Minnesota Vikings at the latest, while he could potentially return for the Jaguars’ Week 8 game against the Green Bay Packers if his hamstring heals quicker than expected.
At the same time, the Jaguars could opt to play it safe with Etienne, knowing that hamstring injuries tend to linger and that the veteran running back could be a top NFL trade deadline target in 2024. That could lead Jacksonville to be more cautious with him than the average player amid its 1-5 start to the season.
Either way, the Jaguars are going to have to rely on some of their other running backs to produce while Etienne is out of the lineup.
Travis Etienne stats
Etienne hasn’t been nearly as productive in 2024 as he was during the 2023 season, when he finished with just shy of 1,500 scrimmage yards and five touchdowns.
Below is a look at Etienne’s performance through six weeks this season:
- Carries: 56
- Rushing yards: 230
- Rushing TDs: 2
- Yards per carry: 4.1
- Receptions: 16
- Receiving yards: 91
- Receiving TDs: 0
Etienne has yet to eclipse 85 scrimmage yards in an outing and hasn’t scored a touchdown since Week 2.
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Jaguars RB depth chart
The Jaguars have two healthy running backs on their 53-man roster with Etienne likely out of action. They are as follows:
Bigsby, a second-year back out of Auburn, has outpaced Etienne this season on the ground, racking up 297 yards and two touchdowns on 41 carries for an average of 7.2 yards per attempt. That said, he has just one catch for 28 yards, so he may not provide much as a receiver.
That’s where Johnson may come in. He actually out-snapped Bigsby 34-16 in Week 6 and led the team with 28 rushing yards on six carries. The veteran will likely be used to spell Bigsby while taking on a role in the passing game, as 79.4 percent of his snaps came on passing plays against the Bears compared to Bigsby’s 50 percent mark, per ESPN’s Mike Clay.
The Jaguars also have Jake Funk on their practice squad, and he could be called up to be the No. 3 back as long as Etienne is out. The 2021 seventh-round pick has played for seven teams since coming into the NFL but has just four career carries for 15 yards.