Jaguars RB Travis Etienne gets nominated for sound bite of the year

By now, it’s been well documented how toxic Urban Meyer’s tenure as the head coach of the Jacksonville Jaguars was. And everyone that had to live through it is sure thrilled it’s over. Running back Travis Etienne certainly is.

Etienne had to sit out his rookie campaign after suffering a Lisfranc injury in the preseason. He met with the local media Thursday and was asked if he was glad he didn’t have to go through the drama of Meyer’s short stint in Jacksonville. His response was, “If there was any year to miss, I missed a great one“. Rich Eisen got a hold of the comment and quickly nominated it for the soundbite of the year.

"Hey, sometimes you read something and it’s different than the way it sounds. I haven’t heard it yet. I’ve read it. I read it during a commercial break during our two right now it strikes me as a candidate for sound bite of the year."

Eisen went on to listen to it on his show and said it was better than he originally thought. He added that the Jaguars should improve considerably in 2022 by virtue of no longer having Meyer as their head coach. He and Chris Brockman later discussed Trevor Lawrence’s comments about the former regime and argued that they’re as good or maybe better than Etienne’s. Here’s the whole clip, in case you want to give it a look.

The Jaguars could rely heavily on Travis Etienne in 2022.

Etienne may indeed have the sound bite of the year. What makes it so good is that it sounds organic. While the Meyer era may have taken a toll on everyone that was part of it, there’s not much to do but to look forward and get a good laugh out of it.

Etienne also told the media that he’s 85-90 percent back from the Lisfranc injury and should be cleared in time for training camp. He then added if he didn’t know he had a screw in his foot, he wouldn’t be able to tell.

With a competent head coach in place, Etienne should have a big role in the Jaguars’ offense in 2022. Fellow running back James Robinson is also recovering from a torn Achilles he suffered late in the 2021 season. Depending on when he comes back, which may not be for Week 1, the coaching staff may need to lean heavily on E-T-N.

Etienne will have the chance to prove the Jaguars made the right decision when they made him the 25th overall pick in the 2021 NFL Draft. If he can play the way he did at Clemson, Jacksonville’s running game will get a considerable boost.