Trevor Lawrence and Travis Etienne didn’t play in Thursday night’s Pro Football Hall of Fame Game against the Las Vegas Raiders in Canton, Ohio, but the former Clemson star duo and current Jacksonville Jaguars teammates did make an appearance together during NBC’s coverage of the game doing an interview on the sideline with sideline reporter Melissa Stark.
Clemson and NFL fans alike have had to wait a year to see Lawrence and Etienne play together as professionals, as Etienne missed all of his rookie season in 2021 after suffering a Lisfranc injury in the preseason last August.
Considering the impressive numbers the talented tandem put up during their three years together at Clemson (2018-20), Lawrence was asked what people can expect from the two of them this season.
“Obviously I miss playing beside this guy,” Lawrence said. “We had a couple great years together at Clemson, and really just excited for him to be back, add an explosive element to our offense, and really just more consistency, I think, from myself individually. As an offense, as a team in general, I think we’re going to be a lot more consistent and put a lot more points on the board.”
Healthy again heading into the 2022 campaign, Etienne has been shining in the Jaguars’ training camp while showing off the explosiveness that enticed the Jaguars to take him with the 25th overall pick in last year’s NFL draft.
Etienne was asked how he is feeling now and what the recovery was like as he worked his way back from the Lisfranc injury that required surgery.
“I’m feeling good,” Etienne said. “The recovery, it was long and hard. I felt like I had to fall in love with the mundane (routine of rehab)… I did that over the process and now I’m back. So, I’m just ready to get back out here.”
Lawrence told reporters recently he feels Etienne is in even better shape physically than he was during their final year as Tigers in 2020 – when Etienne was a consensus All-American as an all-purpose/athlete selection, when he rushed 168 times for 914 yards with 14 rushing touchdowns and also recorded Clemson single-season records for a running back in receptions (48) and receiving yards (588).
Asked about the aforementioned comment from Lawrence, Etienne said he feels the same way.
“I feel like I’ve been working as hard as I could to get back here and show the world what I’m about and who I am as a player,” he said, “and I feel like I can put that on display soon.”
Lawrence, meanwhile, is ready to “let it rip” this season with Etienne back in the backfield with him, a bunch of other players returning from injuries as well, plenty of offseason acquisitions around him and a new head coach in Doug Pederson.
“Just looking forward to making plays all over the field,” Lawrence said. “We’ve got a bunch of guys that are playmakers, a lot of speed, but also really smart – guys that are just really in-tune with learning our offense, adjustments, all these different things, and it’s just been fun to work with everybody. And you have those conversations with camp and you get on the same page more and more every day, and it’s been great. So, I’m excited for that, I’m excited for this new journey, to start fresh this season and really just see what we can build here.”
.@Trevorlawrencee and @swaggy_t1 are excited to finally take the field in the NFL together.
📺: @ProFootballHOF Game on NBC
📱: Stream on NFL+ https://t.co/N8g52F6fon pic.twitter.com/3TnPCB8ibt— NFL (@NFL) August 5, 2022
–Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images
