Travis Etienne is certainly open to the idea of being utilized by the Jacksonville Jaguars in a way similar to how Deebo Samuel has been deployed by the San Francisco 49ers — as a “wide back.”
Last year, before Etienne suffered a season-ending injury in the preseason, the former Clemson running back was getting work at wide receiver as well.
Head coach Doug Pederson and the new Jaguars staff apparently have a similar type of role in mind for Etienne, who saw most of his action as a receiver in an organized team activity practice earlier this week, according to CBS Sports’ Jonathan Jones.
The versatile Etienne welcomes positional flexibility and brought up Samuel’s name when discussing the goal for what his ideal role would be in the Jaguars’ offense.
“If I’m in those positions throughout the game and we get good matchups, we’ll be able to exploit them,” Etienne said, via Jones. “So it’s just me being able to do more and being valuable. Football is all about matchups so I mean if I could be like Deebo Samuel, I would love that. Honestly the game is a game of productivity. If you can produce, the team is always going to have a need for you. It’s just trying to be the best player I can be so I can be on the field at all times.”
While Samuel’s contract dispute with the 49ers this offseason is due in part to the fact that he wants to take less of a physical toll as a rusher, Etienne believes the hybrid role would be just fine for him considering that Samuel is “the receiver going to the backfield,” whereas Etienne is “the running back going to receiver.”
“For me that’s taking less pounding on my body,” Etienne said. “For him that’s putting my pounding on his. You’ve got to see it from his perspective. For me, it’s totally fine because I get to get outside in space and just work against DBs, smaller guys and I don’t have to run between the tackles. Who wouldn’t love that?”
However the Jags use Etienne this season, it will be fun to see the former Clemson star back on the field after he missed his entire rookie season due to the Lisfranc injury he suffered in Jacksonville’s second preseason game last August that required surgery. The first-round pick in the 2021 NFL Draft has reportedly looked like the Etienne of old from an explosion standpoint in OTAs, per Jaguars beat reporter John Shipley.
–Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images
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