Jacksonville Jaguars second-year running back Travis Etienne looked well on his way to a breakout game Sunday when he gained 68 yards on his first three touches.
Then Etienne seemingly vanished for most of the second half, finishing with 71 yards on 10 carries and 43 receiving yards on three receptions. After the game, Jaguars coach Doug Pederson took responsibility for Eteinne getting just 13 touches despite averaging 8.8 yards when he had the ball.
“That’s on me, I gotta call more runs,” Pederson said in his post game press conference.
The Jaguars’ run-pass balance has been an issue early in the 2022 season as the team attempted only 18 runs in a Week 1 loss to the Washington Commanders and 19 last week in a loss to the Philadelphia Eagles. In the previous losses it was James Robinson who seemingly should’ve received more opportunities. Against the Houston Texans it was Etienne who was finding chunk plays before disappearing.
On the other hand, the Jaguars found 422 total yards of total offense against the Houston defense. The team moved the ball up and down the field, but didn’t capitalize on its opportunities to turn that production into anything more than six points. In this loss in particular, a change of the game plan takes a backseat to the Jaguars executing on red zone opportunities, as well as third and fourth downs.
Still, a recurring problem for the Jaguars offense in 2022 — which is lacking in receiving talent even after adding Christian Kirk, Zay Jones, and Evan Engram in the offseason — is that it leans way too hard on the pass.