JACKSONVILLE – Travis Etienne Jr. takes nothing for granted. Not anymore.
Not the Jaguars' 3-1 start to the 2025 season. Not his critical role in first-year Head Coach Liam Coen's offense. And the veteran running back absolutely never assumed he personally would have the best start of his NFL career this season.
These are good times for Etienne, and work made it happen.
"Everything is earned," he said.
Etienne, the Jaguars' fifth-year veteran running back, joined senior writer John Oehser for this 2025 Week 5 O-Zone Podcast. The NFL's fourth-leading rusher through four games, he discussed how a difficult 2024 season shaped what has been a remarkably productive season to date.
"I just take it one week at a time; be grateful for your opportunity," he said.
Etienne, after rushing for more than 1,000 yards in 2022 and 2023, rushed for just 558 yards in a somewhat reduced role in 2024 while then-second-year running back Tank Bigsby – traded to the Philadelphia Eagles last month – rushed for 766 yards in an expanded role.
Etienne through four games this season has rushed for 394 yards and 2 touchdowns on 65 carries. He rushed for 124 yards and a 48-yard touchdown on 19 carries in the Jaguars' 26-21 victory over the San Francisco 49ers this past Sunday.
He has two runs of 48 or more yards this season after a long run of 22 yards in 2024.
"I have to earn it every week," Etienne said. "It's not guaranteed. It's not given to me. Going into that third year, I kind of took it for granted that it was going to be a successful year. It didn't happen.
"That was God's way of humbling me and making me understand if I want something, I have to go out there and earn it each and every day and I can't take anything for granted."
The performance has come after an offseason in which observers speculated that Etienne might be traded, also coming in the final season of his rookie contract.
"For me, this year was just really locking on myself, honing on myself and being the best version of myself," he said. "I owed it to myself, especially having that down year. Last offseason, I started thinking, 'What could I have done better to prepare myself?'
"I felt like I didn't want to take that same route, so I just made sure I maximized my opportunities on the front end so I could reap the benefits on the back end."
To listen to the entire O-Zone Podcast with Etienne, tune-in below. For more interviews on the O-Zone Podcast, click HERE.
