Travis Etienne Jr. Injury Update: Should Fantasy Managers Worry About the Jaguars RB?

The Jacksonville Jaguars travel to Arizona for their Week 12 matchup against the Cardinals looking to build on consecutive victories. Travis Etienne Jr. appeared on Wednesday’s practice report with a shoulder injury. Will fantasy football managers have the Jaguars’ lead back available this week?

Travis Etienne Jr. Injury Update

Etienne showed up as a limited participant on Jacksonville’s Wednesday practice report with a shoulder injury. The designation came as a surprise since the injury wasn’t previously reported and Etienne was never announced with any injury during Sunday’s 35-6 blowout victory over the Los Angeles Chargers.​

The fifth-year running back out of Clemson played into the fourth quarter on Sunday before handing things over to passing-down specialist LeQuint Allen in garbage time. Etienne rushed 19 times for 73 yards and two touchdowns while failing to bring in either of his two targets in the dominant win. There was no indication during the game that he was dealing with any sort of shoulder issue.​

Wednesday practices are largely meaningless when evaluating player availability for Sunday’s game. Teams routinely list key players with minor ailments on the initial injury report as a precautionary measure while managing their workload throughout the week. This is no big deal for Etienne’s status moving forward.​

Etienne is in no jeopardy of missing Sunday’s game against Arizona. The limited designation on Wednesday represents standard maintenance for a running back who has carried a heavy workload throughout the season as Jacksonville’s clear lead back. Early signs are good for Etienne suiting up this Sunday against the Cardinals.​

The fact that Etienne wasn’t listed with any injury during or immediately after Sunday’s game suggests the shoulder issue is minor. Fantasy managers should expect him to either practice fully on Thursday or continue with limited participation before being removed from the injury report entirely on Friday.​

Etienne’s Fantasy Outlook

Everything was clicking for the Jags run game last weekend against the Chargers as part of a 35-6 run.

It was great to see, but it’s unlikely we see a game script play out like that again. I’m not going to say that last week lowered Etienne in my rest of season ranks, but it was trending in that direction until Bhyashul Tuten got dinged up.

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Jacksonville got both of their running backs involved early last week and it wouldn’t surprise me if this franchise wanted to get more looks at the rookie down the stretch of this season.

That said, with him nursing the ankle injury, you can feel good about Etienne as a RB2. He has 18+ touches in all three games this month and while he hasn’t been efficient as a pass catcher, 33 targets is enough usage for us to feel good about him in any script.

Since Week 5, the Cardinals are the sixth worst red zone defense in the league, giving him one more path to reaching double figures in PPR points and worthy of a spot in your starting lineup.

— PFSN Fantasy Analyst Kyle Soppe