Travis Etienne is enjoying another outstanding season with the Jacksonville Jaguars, and the former Clemson running back drew plenty of praise from veteran teammates recently amid his second straight highly productive campaign.
“He’s special,” Jags offensive tackle Cam Robinson said, via Jaguars.com.
“He’s been so impressive,” wide receiver Christian Kirk added. “His level of consistency is what stands out to me, just his dynamic ability.”
A first-round pick in the 2021 NFL Draft, Etienne missed that 2021 rookie season with a Lisfranc injury before coming back to rush for more than 1,000 yards in 2022.
This season, the speedy, shifty and explosive Clemson product currently ranks fourth in the NFL in rushing yards (618) and is tied for fourth in the league with seven rushing touchdowns. He also has 29 receptions for 275 yards and another score through the air.
Impressively, Etienne is also among the league leaders in rushing yards after contact, while he leads the league with 17 broken tackles.
“One thing that always sticks out watching film is his contact balance, how good he is just taking contact and then not knocking him off balance,” Robinson said. “That’s a real underrated part of any great back’s game is to be able to take shots and then not completely throw you off balance.”
Added Kirk of Etienne: “Some backs just have a knack for just not going down, and I think he has that. The first guy never takes him down. It always takes multiple. He’s just always fighting for extra yards. He’s one of those slippery guys. He’s just hard to bring down.”
Etienne has been a workhorse this season, as he’s racked up the second most carries in the NFL (160) behind only Las Vegas Raiders running back Josh Jacobs (186).
Etienne and the Jaguars (6-3) sit atop the AFC South standings entering Week 11, when they will take on the Tennessee Titans (3-6) this Sunday in Jacksonville.
–Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images
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