Massive Boost on the Horizon for Jaguars

The Jacksonville Jaguars have a chance at returning one of their top offensive weapons for their upcoming road battle with the Philadelphia Eagles.

Oct 6, 2024; Jacksonville, Florida, USA; Jacksonville Jaguars running back Travis Etienne Jr. (1) runs with the ball against the Indianapolis Colts in the first quarter at EverBank Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Nathan Ray Seebeck-Imagn Images / Nathan Ray Seebeck-Imagn Images

The Jacksonville Jaguars (2-6) have struggled to keep much of the team healthy through the first eight weeks, but should return their star running back Travis Etienne who missed the past two games with a hamstring injury.

“Yeah, should get him back," Jaguars head coach Doug Pederson said in Wednesday's press conference. "I'm looking forward to getting him out there and getting some reps. See how he feels.”

Great news for the third-year back out of Clemson who got banged up in Week 6 against the Chicago Bears with that hamstring issue. He was a limited participant in practice last week and has been more involved more the past several days in hopes to play on Sunday.

It marks the third injury of Etienne's young career, including a rib and foot injury that came in the past two seasons. He has been patient and done well to work through this minor setback and should be able to contribute this weekend.

Etienne would be a major help for the Jaguars rushing offense that has heavily relied on second-year running back Tank Bigsby, who has surprised a lot of people this season with his fierce running style and ability to rip off chunk yardage gains.

Bigsby has slowly moved into that number one running back role in Etienne's absence, earning 85 carries for 493 yards and four touchdowns. The guy can really run while shedding blockers and will continue to receive a considerable amount of touches.

It would not be shocking if Etienne carried a lighter load this week against the Philadelphia Eagles (5-2). He has recorded 56 carries for 230 yards and one touchdown this season and due to Pederson's comment of 'see how he feels', Etienne will likely receive a limited amount of carries in his return.

If the Jaguars want to get to where they want to be, a dual-threat running back room is going to be an important piece in that. Having both Etienne and Bigsby at full strength, dominating the run game, is going to be an ingredient to the winning recipe going forward.

The Jaguars are middle of the pack in the NFL in rushing yard per game (120.1). If they want to be a playoff team, that number must rise to take control of a game, something they have struggled to do so far this season.

Ensure you follow on X (Twitter) @JaguarsOnSI and never miss another breaking news story again.

Please let us know your thoughts when you like our Facebook page WHEN YOU CLICK RIGHT HERE.