It's been a long, hard road to get here, but Travis Etienne has done it. The former first-round pick missed the entirety of his rookie NFL season in 2021 after suffering a Lisfranc injury during the second preseason game in August, the Jacksonville Jaguars placing him on injured reserve -- ending his season before it could ever begin. After recently making it clear his return to the field was imminent, the medical staff in Jacksonville have now given him the green light, and right in time for things to ramp up at Jaguars practice.
Etienne has been fully cleared medically to return to all practice activities, head coach Doug Pederson labeling him a "full go" to 92.5 FM in Jacksonville on Monday. When asked recently if there was a silver lining to it all, Etienne jokingly (or maybe not so much) noted he was perfectly fine not being subjected to the disaster that was the short-lived Urban Meyer era.
"Na, na, definitely. That's just the human element of it, just seeing the results you're definitely like, 'Phew, if there was any year to miss, I missed a great one,'" Etienne said.
The former 25th overall pick will finally get a chance to make his NFL debut in September, assuming all goes well leading up to the team's Week 1 kickoff against the Washington Commanders. That game would officially reunite him with former first overall pick Trevor Lawrence -- the two having helped lead Clemson to a national championship in 2018, both becoming first-round selections by the Jaguars in the 2021 NFL Draft.
A two-time ACC Player of the Year and two-time ACC Offensive Player of the Year, among other accolades (e.g., three-time First-Team All-ACC and two-time Consensus All-American), Etienne looks to add some needed offensive explosiveness in North Florida, much like he did alongside Lawrence in South Carolina.
