Travis Etienne on being injured during disastrous 2021 Jacksonville Jaguars season: 'I missed a great one'

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Running back Travis Etienne missed the entire 2021 season with the Jacksonville Jaguars after sustaining a season-ending foot injury in the preseason.

While being injured for a rookie NFL season isn't ideal, Etienne acknowledged Tuesday he picked a good one to miss, considering all the drama with Urban Meyer's short-lived tenure as coach in Jacksonville. The team went 3-14 and now holds the first pick in the draft for the second straight year. 

"Just seeing the results, you're definitely like, 'Whew, if there was any year to miss, I missed a great one,'" Etienne said.

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Etienne was a standout running back at Clemson before the Jaguars selected him with the 25th overall pick in the 2021 NFL Draft. At the time, Meyer envisioned Etienne in a role similar to Percy Harvin or Deebo Samuel of the San Francisco 49ers, and the Jaguars selected him despite also having running back James Robinson on the roster.  

Jacksonville Jaguars running back Travis Etienne carries in a preseason game in New Orleans Aug. 23, 2021.   (AP Photo/Derick Hingle)

But that role never came to fruition after Etienne was injured in the preseason. He has yet to play an NFL regular season down and is about 85-90% recovered from the Lisfranc injury to his left foot he suffered last August, he said Tuesday. 

Now that the disastrous Meyer tenure is in the rearview mirror, this year is a fresh start for the Jaguars and quarterback Trevor Lawrence, Etienne's teammate at Clemson. 

The Jaguars now have Doug Pederson, a Super Bowl-winning coach, as their head coach after he signed with the team earlier this year. 

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