Initial Jaguars injury report for Week 9 bears encouraging news for Travis Etienne

The Jacksonville Jaguars have been without running back Travis Etienne the past two games but could get him back for their Week 9 matchup against the Philadelphia Eagles. Head coach Doug Pederson said as much when he met with the local media Wednesday.

Pederson provided updates about several players during his media availability session. He says he feels good about Etienne's chances of suiting up against Philly.

"Darby is good, to be out there, BT, we just gotta wait and see, it's going to be day to day," Pederson told the press corps. "Gabe is going to be day to day, day to day. Travis, day to day. But we'll see how he is at the end of the week. Yeah, [We] should get him back. Looking forward to getting him out there and get some reps, see how he feels."

Etienne has dealt with a hamstring injury. He was a game-time decision in Week 8 and ultimately missed the contest. On the other hand, it's encouraging to hear that Brian Thomas Jr. has a chance to play against the Eagles, as slim as it may be. Expected to miss two to four weeks after suffering a rib injury in the loss to the Green Bay Packers, Thomas will be day-to-day after an MRI revealed no serious damage.

Gabe Davis and Brandon Scheff also left the Packers game with shoulder and knee injuries, respectively. As Pederson said, both of them are day-to-day. With that in mind, here's the injury report for Week 9.

Scherff, along with Ezra Cleveland (ankle) and Christian Kirk didn't practice. It was a bit odd to see Kirk appear on the injury report, given that he's expected to miss the season. That said, it may be a matter of time before he's placed on IR.

Davis, Etienne, Thomas, Maason Smith, Tank Bigsby, and Andrew Wingard (knee) were limited participants while rookie Keilan Robinson (toe) and cornerback Ronald Darby (hip) practiced with no limitations.

Tank Bigsby be ready to go whether Travis Etienne suits up for the Jaguars

The last thing the Jacksonville Jaguars want is to rush Travis Etienne back onto the field only to get injured again, so he won't probably play in Week 9 unless he's back at full strength or as close as he can be. For the time being, they announced they're opening rookie running back Keilan Robinson's 21-day window to practice.

Robinson suffered a toe injury in training camp and missed the preseason. The day before the Jags activated his window to return, they released running back Jake Funk from their practice squad. He had been promoted to the active roster via standard elevation the past two games but was no longer necessary with Robinson back in the fold.

Surprisingly, the Jags added Funk back to the practice squad just one day later.

Now, there's no certainty Robinson will make his debut in Week 9, but if he does, he won't probably see time on offense. Tank Bigsby will likely get the lion's share of the workload whether Etienne returns or not, and D'Ernest Johnson will be the No. 3 option in the backfield. That said, the former Texas Longhorn could see snaps as a returner.

With Devin Duvernay on Injured Reserve, Parker Washington has become the team's main returner. Given that he'll also replace Christian Kirk on offense, the coaching staff may want to ease his workload by giving Robinson playing time as a returner.

The bottom line is that the Jaguars are experiencing injuries at the worst possible. The silver lining is that they have enough players in place to overcome them. That said, they would surely want to have Travis Etienne in the fold when they face the Eagles.

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