Travis Etienne 'thriving' and eyeing more London success when Jaguars face Rams at Wembley

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WATFORD, England (AP) — Jacksonville Jaguars running back Travis Etienne Jr. recalls the Wembley Stadium crowd being “electric” on the day he rushed for a career-high 156 yards against Denver in 2022.

His 1-yard touchdown run put the Jags ahead before the Broncos rallied for a 21-17 victory.

After a down year, Etienne says he's “thriving” physically and mentally as the Jaguars return to Wembley on Sunday to face the Los Angeles Rams.

“I’ve grown to love London,” Etienne told The Associated Press after practice on Friday.

Who wouldn't? He said he enjoys shopping and exploring in the city, and Etienne also racked up 136 yards rushing and two touchdowns in a 25-20 win over the Buffalo Bills at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in 2023.

Etienne, who missed his 2021 rookie season with a foot injury, had back-to-back 1,000-plus yard seasons but a year ago compiled only 558 yards on 150 carries. He sustained a hamstring injury in the first of back-to-back London games last season.

“Last year was just battling a lot of injuries ... trying to just be available for Sunday, to where this year I’m thriving, body feels better, mindset and scheme,” said Etienne, who is in the final year of his contract. “Our scheme is a lot better, I feel like everybody has a much better understanding of what’s going on.”

Head coach Liam Coen, hired in January, said Etienne “came in with the right mindset” this season.

“There were some days early on that were ‘hey man, you've got to get your butt in this facility and come meet with us,’ and he did, and credit him,” Coen said.

Etienne spent time with running backs coach Chad Morton “all throughout this whole offseason,” Coen said.

“TJ has really been on the screws with the details of our offense — the why,” he added. “And then you're seeing it show up in his play.”

Through six games, Etienne has 470 yards on 89 carries for a 5.3 average with two rushing touchdowns. He’s also caught 13 passes for 69 yards and a score.

In the season opener, he ran for 143 yards in a 26-10 win over the Carolina Panthers.

Last week, though, Etienne rushed for a season-low 27 yards on 12 carries in Jacksonville's 20-12 loss to the Seahawks.

Etienne credits Coen and the new coaching staff with making it easy to “buy in” to the system.

Morton, the position coach, “told me I had to meet with him every day,” Etienne said. “After I get done working out, take my shower, and then go see him before I’d go home. Me and coach Morton definitely built a great relationship. He helps us get our mindset right."

Tank Bigsby led the Jags in rushing last season, but he was traded to Philadelphia last month.

Center Robert Hainsey was on track to return from a hamstring injury that kept him out of last week's game.

“It’s obviously the mentality, the toughness, the physicality, the leadership, the standard and command that he continues to push. Having him out there would be really important for us,” Coen said.

Hainsey was a full participant at practice Thursday and Friday. The Jags rushed for just 59 yards against the Seahawks and quarterback Trevor Lawrence was sacked a career-high seven times.

The 27-year-old Hainsey signed in the offseason from Tampa Bay, where he played in Coen’s offense — the Jags coach was the Buccaneers’ offensive coordinator last season — though mainly as a backup.

“So much of our collaboration on working through an offense was run through Hainsey, even when he wasn’t the starting center for us,” Coen said. “You’re bouncing protection ideas off of him, run schemes, ways of targeting runs and how he sees defensive structures.”

Jags players voted Hainsey as one of the captains this season.

Jonah Monheim filled in last week and “played really well,” Coen said. “He’s continued to get better week in and week out, but having Hainsey would be really important for us.”

The Jaguars' contract with Wembley expires with Sunday's game, though it's clear that the plan is to keep coming. Team owner Shad Khan had expressed that to Coen when he hired him.

“Fairly early in the process, that was something that Shad had communicated was a part of the plans, and something that he felt strongly about in terms of the presence here and the ability to play here,” Coen said.

Sunday will be Jacksonville's 11th game at Wembley, an 86,000-capacity venue that provides a major revenue boost to the small-market Jaguars.

DE Travon Walker (wrist) was a full participant at Friday's practice. ... WR Dyami Brown (shoulder) and S Eric Murray (neck) were limited.

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