Doug Pederson wants to ‘knock the reps down’ for Travis Etienne

Jacksonville Jaguars running back Travis Etienne Jr. finished the 2023 season with the third most touches in the NFL behind only Christian McCaffrey and Rachaad White. It doesn’t sound like he’ll have a similar workload in 2024, though.

In an interview with Matthew Berry of NBC Sports, Jaguars coach Doug Pederson said several factors led to the team leaning on Etienne more than it initially intended.

“D’Ernest Johnson got hurt a little bit in there, and then Tank [Bigsby] was a rookie and learning and coming on,” Pederson said. “We really like Tank and he’ll have a bigger impact for us this year for us. It’s not the recipe, necessarily, to put Travis in that situation. So I would consider knocking a few of those reps down to keep him healthy throughout the course of the year.”

Etienne, 25, reached 1,008 rushing yards during the 2023 season, but his production tailed off in the latter half of the year. Half of his rushing yards and seven of his 11 rushing touchdowns came in the Jaguars’ first seven games. In the last 10 games, he averaged just 3.6 yards per carry.

Whether that was due to wear and tear for Etienne, or the offensive line’s collective performance deteriorating as the year went on is hard to say. But as Pederson noted, the growth of Bigsby is likely the key to a lighter workload for Etienne.

Bigsby and Johnson (who is set to become a free agent in March) each averaged three touches per game during the 2023 season.