Jacksonville Jaguars RB Travis Etienne shining in training camp

The Jacksonville Jaguars expected running back Travis Etienne to have a big role in their offense last year. Unfortunately, he suffered a Lisfranc injury in the preseason and had to sit his entire rookie campaign. Etienne is now fully healthy and might even be in better shape than he was pre-injury. Teammate Trevor Lawrence certainly believes so.

Lawrence met with the local media on Day 5 of Jaguars training camp and said that Etienne has looked great.

"I think he looks like he’s in better shape than I thought he was in our last year at Clemson. I mean, obviously, it was great, played great… I think right now, his body looks great. I think he’s running really well. Picking up the offense, and done a great job in protections, all those things that we’re asking him to do. He’s done a great job every time."

Back in 2020, Etienne’s last year at Clemson, he toted the rock 168 times for 914 yards and 14 touchdowns. On top of that, he caught 48 passes for 588 receiving yards and two trips to the end zone. While it’s hard to envision the Louisiana native having that kind of numbers in the NFL, the Jags would love him to have the same impact he had at the collegiate level. Here’s a clip of Lawrence talking up Etienne.

Jaguars RB Travis Etienne has been a stud in training camp

You could make the case that Lawrence is biased since he’s been good friends with Etienne dating back to their college days. However, he’s not the only one that has noticed the former Clemson Tiger has thrived in training camp. John Shipley of Jaguar Report dubbed Etienne the offense’s standout skill player on Day 3 of training camp (Wednesday), and Jordan de Lugo described him as “explosive” the same day.

As Shipley noted, the Jags will lean on Etienne while James Robinson recovers from the torn Achilles he suffered late in the 2021 season, which might be better than anticipated. Once Robinson is back, they could form one of the most dynamic backfield tandems in the NFL.

Lawrence will be the focal point of the Jaguars’ offense in 2022 but Etienne’s presence should take some pressure off his shoulders, especially if he can play the way he did in college.