Jaguars' Liam Coen Blasts Travis Etienne Rumors

Jacksonville Jaguars head coach Liam Coen shared a key message following Monday's OTA practice: he is a big fan of veteran running back Travis Etienne.

Etienne has been a hot topic outside of the building this offseason, especially in the wake of the Jaguars drafting running backs Bhayshul Tuten and LeQuint Allen on Day 3 of the 2025 NFL Draft.

Perhaps the biggest piece of skepticism about Etienne's role under Coen came from ESPN's Jeremy Fowler earlier this offseason.

"And watch for fourth-round running back Bhayshul Tuten to make an impact. I've talked to multiple people in the league who believe the new regime is not so high on Travis Etienne Jr., and Tank Bigsby has a fumbling issue," Fowler wrote after the draft.

Not so fast, Coen said on Monday. With Etienne having an impressive day in practice, Coen made sure to make it clear how he feels about the fifth-year running back when the question was posed.

“Everyday, everything we have asked him to do he has done at a good click for us. The ability in the screen game, to hand him jet sweeps, his vision so far in the run game’s been good," Coen said.

"He’s done everything we’ve asked him to do and more. There has been a consistency. Again, it is one of those things where he can shine in ways in space."

Of course, running back is one of the hardest positions to evaluate in offseason practices due to the lack of live reps. Everything is on air and is more about assignments than it is about pure athletic excecution.

But even in that context, Coen has came away with a strong first impression.

"It’s really hard to see a runner in this setting. Are they going to get the hard, physical, tough yards. Are they going to be able to stick their foot in the ground and get those physical, violent yards that we’re going to need. That’s hard to really kind of grade at this moment," Coen said.

As for everything else, Coen made sure to put the case to rest.

"He’s done a great job. I don’t really understand some of the stuff that I’ve seen out there. That’s absolutely inaccurate.”