During the Jacksonville Jaguars’ bye week this past Sunday, former Clemson star and current Jaguars running back Travis Etienne traveled to watch his younger brother, Carolina Panthers running back Trevor Etienne, play against the Buffalo Bills in Charlotte.
It was there where Travis witnessed one of the best player performances in Week 8 of the NFL season – Bills running back James Cook, who rushed for 216 yards and two touchdowns in his team’s 40-9 victory.
While it wasn’t a great day for his younger sibling’s squad, Travis came away having gained inspiration from Cook’s monster game.
“I actually went to my brother’s game. It wasn’t a great game for him, but, you know, I got to see James Cook go for over 200. So just seeing that, I feel like it inspired me to go out there,” Travis said this week.
“And if he could do it, why can’t I? You know, so just being challenged by other people in the league, and just watching how they run and just being inspired by others — I feel like that’s the only way I could do it, is to have that growth mindset to continue to get better and just work to be better every day.”
In addition to being inspired by Cook’s performance, Travis also gained perspective from watching his younger bro – perspective that can help drive him over the rest of this season.
“I watched my brother play. … It’s all about perspective,” he said. “My brother, he was just happy to go out there and be a punt returner and be a kick returner, get two carries. And I feel like whenever you have perspective and just understand where you are and just being great where your feet are, you just have to focus on that. So I feel like for me, these last 10 games of the season, it’s all we have guaranteed. It’s just be my best self each and every week.”
Etienne is having a strong season for a Jaguars team that currently sits at 4-3 and is in second place in the AFC South behind the 7-1 Indianapolis Colts.
Etienne currently ranks 11th in the NFL in rushing yards (514) and is eighth in the league in rushing yards per game (73.4). He is tied for 12th in 20-plus yard rushing plays (three) and has a couple of rushing touchdowns, to go with 14 catches for 80 yards and one receiving score.
Etienne is now in the final year of his rookie contract after being selected by the Jaguars in the first round (25th overall) of the 2021 NFL Draft. He entered this season having rushed for 2,691 yards and 18 touchdowns on 637 carries, while catching 132 passes for 1,046 yards and another score, over the first three seasons of his pro career.
Etienne played in 15 games last season, when he had 150 carries for 558 yards and two touchdowns. Prior to the 2024 campaign, he rushed for more than 1,000 yards in each of his first two NFL seasons in 2022 and 2023, after missing his entire 2021 rookie campaign due to a season-ending Lisfranc injury he suffered in that preseason.
Whenever Etienne takes the field, he’s appreciative of his opportunity to play, especially considering that lost season in 2021.
“Don’t take anything for granted, because I had that season-ending injury to where I couldn’t play, I couldn’t dress out. I just sat and watched,” he said. “So just to be grateful to go out there and play on Sundays, that’s all I can ask for, and I just gotta work during the week to be my best self so I can put a great product on that field each and every Sunday.”
Etienne and the Jaguars return to action this Sunday when they play a road game against the Las Vegas Raiders.
–Photo courtesy of Corey Perrine/Florida Times-Union / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images