Travis Etienne only has one full year in the league, but that’s not precluding Jaguars coach Doug Pederson from talking up big goals for his starting tailback.
Now, Pederson only listed numbers for his Travis Etienne wish list. He wants to see the former Clemson star put his shoulder down, break tackles through the middle of the line and turn those medium gains into first downs. The extra yards would morph into a 1,600 to 1,700-yard season. And if Pederson’s numbers come true, then Etienne would lead the league in rushing or be in the conversation to do so.
Pederson found clips of Etienne to show him this off season. He wants his young back to try not to bounce everything outside of the middle running lanes look congested.
“It’s one of the things that when we looked at his game this offseason back in February and March before the players came back, one of the things that we noticed was just him attacking the hole downhill,” Pederson told reporters. “Shoulders squared, attack the line of scrimmage, finding that crease where a lot of times you’ll see him try to bounce. We were able to show him and really emphasize shoulders-squared, anticipating where the hole could be, and just trusting that.
“He’s done an outstanding job. He’s bought into that. He sees it, we’ve been able to show it to him. He’s working on that in training camp right now.”
