Is Travis Etienne playing today? Latest injury updates for Jaguars RB in Week 8

Running back Travis Etienne has taken a backseat to Tank Bigsby in recent weeks but he's still a key contributor for the Jacksonville Jaguars. This begs the question, will the former Clemson Tiger play against the Green Bay Packers?

Etienne is listed as questionable for the game with a hamstring injury. He missed the win over the New England Patriots and is a game-time decision for Week 8. Ahead of the game, the team promoted running back Jake Funk from the practice squad to the active roster via standard elevation.

Funk's promotion is a sign that the Jags are bracing themselves for the possibility of Etienne sitting out the game. That said, they must feel optimistic about his potential availability. Otherwise, they could've ruled him out like they did with safety Andrew Wingard, who just came off Injured Reserve.

Update: Ian Rapoport of NFL Media reports before the game that Etienne is a long shot to play vs. the Packers.

If Etienne isn't good to go, Tank Bigsby will be the primary option in the Jacksonville backfield and D'Ernest Johnson will be the backup. If he does suit up, he'll probably be on a snap count.

Apart from Etienne, defensive tackle Esizo Otoweno (calf), defensive tackle Maason Smith (ankle), and linebacker Foyesade Oloukun (foot) got the questionable designation for the game. Cam Robinson and Andrew Wingard also made the final injury report but their status for Week 8 has since changed. The former has cleared concussion protocol and is good to go and the latter has been downgraded to out.

The Jaguars will benefit from having Travis Etienne around

In recent weeks, there has been chatter about the Jacksonville Jaguars making Bigsby the lead back and potentially trading Travis Etienne. This is is due to the former's ascencion and the latter being hampered by injuries.

Make no mistake, Etienne is nearly as productive as he was the past two years, averaging 4.6 yards per carry and tallying 230 yards on 56 carries. That said, Bigsby is averaging 6.2 yards per tote and registering 415 yards with four touchdowns.

In the win over the Patriots, Bigsby registered his second 100-yard of the season. However, Doug Pederson was quick to shut down talk about Etienne getting phased out, noting that he won't lose his job because of injury.

Based on Pederson's remarks, Etienne will be getting ample playing time once he's fully healthy. However, Bigsby will probably have a bigger workload.

It's also worth noting that Etienne is a much better pass-catcher than Bigsby, so there's value in keeping him around and having them split the workload whenever he's back in the fold. While there are a handful of teams that could potentially show interest in him ahead of the headline, it's hard to see the Jaguars trading him before the deadline. After all, Jacksonville won't probably want to give up a key cog on offense and leave the running back position devoid of depth.

This is to say that the Jaguars are better off keeping Etienne than trading him for future assets. Especially when you take into account that they're 2-5 and trying to make a potential playoff push.

More Jaguars analysis here: