How Jacksonville Jaguars RB Travis Etienne is turning into team's 'alpha dog'

Jacksonville Jaguars running backs coach Jerry Mack compares Travis Etienne’s running ability to that of a kickoff returner.

Not that the team would ever put Etienne back to return kicks — he’s far too valuable — but his vision to read and manipulate blocks is the same as most returners looking to spring free for a long return.

Mack also acknowledged an underrated part of Etienne’s game is his ability to absorb or deliver contact and pick up chunks of extra yards as he’s falling.

The combination of power and finesse is what excites Mack about being able to coach Etienne, who’s coming off back-to-back 1,000-yard seasons.

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“He's been able to deliver his pads, get low and then fall forward a few more yards. That's one of the things we’ll have to continue to work on him with as well,” Mack said during a coaching roundtable earlier this offseason. “When you have that kind of big play ability like he has what happens sometimes is that you're always looking for that big play. You always try to predetermine the cutback sometimes. He's trying to get better doing it.”

Etienne recorded 1,008 yards on 267 carries for 11 rushing touchdowns last season and was the workhorse of the offense. It was an admirable effort behind an offensive line that routinely struggled.

But at the end of the season, Etienne wasn’t concerned about statistics. He said he wanted to step into a bigger leadership role with the team and talked about the closing window to win.

“He's kind of the alpha dog as far as you know, productivity and had a lot of success in the league. But you can also see him being more vocal with some of those younger guys,” Mack said. “We drafted Keilan [Robinson], he's kind of been like a sounding board for Keilan in certain situations.”

The Jaguars will need Etienne’s leadership as he enters his fourth season in the league and third season playing. The rest of the running back room is vastly inexperienced aside from D’Ernest Johnson, who Mack says they call the old man in the room even though he isn’t even 30 yet.

Tank Bigsby is entering his second season with the club but saw minimal playing time during his rookie year. Keilan Robinson will likely be featured in a return role but is dynamic enough to see playing time on offense.

“You can definitely see Travis is trying to take a little bit more leadership role within that room,” Mack said. “We're excited about that piece, too. And I continue to keep encouraging him to do those types of things.”

In terms of on-field production, Mack knows what he wants to see Etienne improve on. Though his total carries improved in 2023, his yards per carry decreased by more than a yard from the previous season where he averaged 5.1 yards per carry.

Mack would like to see that number go back up as Etienne progresses in the offense.

“Definitely his yards per carry need to go up. That's kind of the total package from a Tank and him that's kind of where they could complement one another,” Mack said. “When you talk about with his yards per carry last year, you can definitely improve on that.”

Mack acknowledged other factors that went into Etienne and the running game’s struggles last season, noting that Etienne played injured during the tail end of the season. And the offensive line certainly plays into his production.

But if Mack and company can get Bigsby on track, they said they’ll be able to not only improve Etienne’s productivity but keep him fresh as the season goes on.

“We can have more productivity with less wear and tear on the body. And that's what we're trying to do,” Mack said. “That's the focus this year. To improve the productivity but also to take some of those shifts off of him down the road, so we can have him down the stretch.”

Juston Lewis is a Jacksonville Jaguars beat reporter for the Florida Times-Union. You can follow him on the website formerly known as Twitter at @JustonLewis_ .

This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: How Jacksonville Jaguars RB Travis Etienne is turning into team's 'alpha dog'