The Jacksonville Jaguars could be without one of their top offensive playmakers moving forward.
Jaguars running back Travis Etienne left Sunday's 35-16 loss to the Chicago Bears with a hamstring injury, and the injury was classified as week-to-week.
“Travis had a hamstring in the game. He's going to be week-to-week. He tweaked it on a go ball early in the game," Jaguars head coach Doug Pederson said on Monday.
Hamstring injuries have left a number on the Jaguars this season. Tyson Campbell has missed the last five games due to a hamstring injury, while tight end Evan Engram missed four games after sustaining a hamstring injury in pregame warmups in Week 2.
Etienne has been a steady and consistent piece of the Jaguars offense over the last three seasons, missing zero games in each of the last three seasons.
Etienne has battled a shoulder injury since Week 4 as well, which likely limited his snaps in Weeks 4 and 5.
“I mean, I'm feeling good. I feel like I’ve just got to just find ways to continue to push through the game," Etienne said about his shoulder injury last week. "Just continue to be a spark for the team and just go out there and make plays when I get the opportunity to and not really worry about it. Just understand that I’ve got a job to do, to try and go out there and get a win for the team. So, just continue to push through, for real.”
In six games this year, Etienne has rushed 56 times for 230 yards and two touchdowns and has also caught 16 passes for 91 yards. The Jaguars have seen second-year running back Tank Bigsby experience a breakout start to 2024, which should help the offense in event Etienne misses any time.
"They all do certain things really well, and they really all can do it all, too. Whenever they're called upon, they really can. So, I think from that standpoint, it's great," Jaguars quarterback Trevor Lawrence said last week when asked about the running back room.
"And then, now you've started to see, Travis has been doing it for the last few years, so I think the more Tank's gotten comfortable in the system and himself, all those things, you see that confidence going up and those big plays starting to happen. So, I think when you have backs that can create those explosive plays as an offense, that's huge."
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Joint practices have revealed some problems for the Miami Dolphins with a few weeks to go before the regular season. Tua Tagovailoa started against the Chicago Bears in Sunday's preseason game, wanting to show improvement after having a bad showing during the Dolphins' joint practice in Chicago on Friday. Tagovailoa did play better, going 5-of-6 passing for 27 yards and led the Dolphins to the Chicago 1-yard line before the offense was stopped on downs. A few days later, Tagovailoa and the offense had another poor performance at their joint practice with the Detroit Lions. Per Colton Pouncy of The Athletic, Miami couldn't score in the red zone against a motivated Lions defense during Wednesday's practice. "Dolphins offense just ran 16 or so plays in the red zone vs. the Lions and didn’t score until the final play (between the second units)," Pouncy posted on X. "Miami’s first-team offense didn’t score in the 7-8 plays vs. Detroit’s first-team defense. It was ugly. Lions’ D is having a day." Pouncy's observation of the Lions manhandling the Dolphins was universal among beat reporters covering the Lions and Dolphins, with The Athletic's Nick Baumgardner calling it the most "lopsided" practice he'd witnessed covering the NFL. Last week, Omar Kelly of the Miami Sun Sentinel said Miami folded when the Bears defense began to whip on the offense. The accusations of the Dolphins being a soft team are going to continue until they decide to fight back in joint practices or against opponents in the regular season. When healthy, the Lions have a fierce defense. So Detroit having the edge isn't a surprise, though not being able to score during 16 plays in the red zone is a concern. Miami doesn't appear to have found an identity, and that could spell doom for the season if it doesn't get it figured out before Week 1.
One of the most lopsided trades of the last decade in the NBA was a "hallway" trade between the Lakers and Clippers. NBA veteran Mike Muscala was traded to the Los Angeles Lakers in exchange for Ivica Zubac, a young center at the time who needed development, along with Michael Beasley. In a win-now move for the Lakers in their first season with LeBron James, they gave up on a young center that showed promise, for a stretch big that the Lakers felt could help them get to the playoffs.
Just when it seemed everything was going right for Shedeur Sanders, the Cleveland Browns' rookie quarterback caught an unlucky break on Wednesday. The 23-year-old QB was sidelined during Wednesday's joint practice with the Philadelphia Eagles after suffering an oblique injury. Per Kelsey Russo of the team website, the 2025 fifth-round pick won't practice Thursday and is considered day-to-day. He is deemed unlikely to play in Saturday's preseason game against Philadelphia, scheduled for 1 p.m. ET on NFL Network. Before Wednesday's practice, Browns head coach Kevin Stefanski confirmed rookie QB Dillon Gabriel will start against Philadelphia as long as he's healthy enough to play. The 2025 third-rounder missed Cleveland's preseason opener against the Carolina Panthers because of a hamstring issue. However, Stefanski previously said Sanders would get more reps this week after a solid preseason debut. The former Colorado Buffaloes star received the start in the 30-10 win over Carolina, going 14-of-23 passing for 138 yards and two touchdown passes. Not playing against Philadelphia could disrupt Sanders' momentum. More importantly, it may eliminate another opportunity for him to overtake Gabriel in Cleveland's four-way QB competition. Sanders is listed as the Browns QB4 behind Gabriel, Kenny Pickett and Joe Flacco on the team's unofficial depth chart. Despite questions about Gabriel's size (5-foot-11, 205 pounds), the coaching staff seems to favor him over Sanders. Earlier this offseason, Gabriel's processing speed reportedly impressed Browns coaches, giving him an edge over Sanders. The former Oregon Ducks star also received reps with the first-team offense during OTAs and mandatory minicamp, while his fellow rookie didn't. If Gabriel plays well against the Eagles, that would continue to affirm the coaching staff's confidence in the 24-year-old QB. Neither Sanders nor Gabriel is expected to be the Week 1 starter for the Browns. It's likely going to be Flacco, who helped Cleveland make the playoffs in 2023 when he went 4-1 during a late-season stretch. Still, another solid preseason showing could help Sanders position himself to replace 40-year-old Flacco in the future. With the setback, it may take more time to climb the depth chart.
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