The Jacksonville Jaguars are once again looking to spread the load at running back as they build towards the new season.
With Travis Etienne having been such a key part of their offence it’s understandable, but can the Jaguars really find that balance and keep winning games.
“It’s hard to put necessarily a rep count on it, but you do want to keep him as healthy as you can throughout the season,” Jaguars head coach Doug Pederson said. “We talked about this as a staff and myself, making sure Tank gets opportunities to get out there and take some of the pounding off of Travis.”
Jaguars looking to keep their talent fresh all season
“Year 3 with us in the offense and just seeing his growth, I think there’s more out there that he can get yard-wise,” Pederson said. “It’d definitely be an emphasis utilizing him more so in the run game and making sure that those yards that are there, that we’re doing the right things, we’re hitting the right holes, we’re anticipating defenders and blocking schemes and all that kind of stuff.”
The Jaguars tried this with Travis Etienne last season as well, but they ran into one major problem, he was just way better than anyone else they could put on the field.
“For me it’s more about just being more disciplined, not trying to get a touchdown every time I touch the ball,” Etienne said. “I feel like college kind of ruined me with that, just being able to get the ball and score touchdowns every play. Understanding the flow of the game, the ebbs and flow and understanding the whole totality, understanding the bigger picture and understanding that it’s second-and-1, no need for me to shoot for the stars. Just get that first down and a fresh set of downs. … And I feel like that’s going to continue to get me better.”
“I had a year off [in 2021 and] I wanted touchdowns and the ball is [held] a little loose,” Etienne said. “I was out there playing backyard football and I quickly understood that [in] the NFL everybody’s professional and I just tightened my ball up a little. You’ve seen that last season; I had zero fumbles and I feel like it’s only going to continue to get better. Improving and just having a conscious effort of just understanding the ball is the most important thing.”
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