Jacksonville Jaguars running back Travis Etienne Jr. had an injury scare in the team’s Week 4 loss to the Houston Texans. Etienne left the game temporarily with a shoulder injury, and though he returned to finish, it raised doubts about his availability for Week 5.
Looking ahead to Sunday’s game against the Indianapolis Colts, let’s take a look at what the injury report suggests about Etienne’s availability.
Will Travis Etienne Jr. Be Active in Week 5?
Etienne was limited all three days of practice this week with that shoulder injury. However, the good news for his fantasy football managers is that he received no injury designation ahead of Sunday.
#Jaguars list six players questionable to play vs. Colts:
LB Yasir Abdullah (neck)
TE Evan Engram (hamstring)
DB Darnell Savage (quad)
DE Josh Hines-Allen (concussion)
LB Devin Lloyd (knee)
S Daniel Thomas (hamstring) pic.twitter.com/ryvDbLMkjo— Demetrius Harvey (@Demetrius82) October 4, 2024
Interestingly, Etienne’s backup, Tank Bigsby, followed the same pattern, receiving no injury designation despite a neck injury limiting him from practice all week. Thus, it appears the Jaguars’ backfield should operate at status quo.
Should Fantasy Managers Start Etienne in Week 5?
Pro Football Network’s Week 5 rankings have Etienne as the RB17 overall, putting him in clear RB2 range. That would actually be a welcome upgrade from the first month of the season, as Etienne ranks as RB29 by PPR points per game this season.
The good news is that Etienne is still being treated like a workhorse, taking 65.8% of the snaps this season (13th-highest among running backs) despite missing time last week. In his three fully healthy games, Etienne played 70.5% of the snaps, right in line with his 73.2% average from last season.
The Colts are a tricky matchup to dissect. Indy ranks 14th in PPR points per game allowed to running back (16.7) but has gotten there in a totally bipolar fashion.
Indianapolis ranked 23rd against running backs over the first two weeks of the season (against the Texans and Packers) but ninth over the last two weeks (Bears and Steelers).
Given Etienne’s steady usage, fantasy managers aren’t likely to have two better options at running back. He’s produced about 15% fewer fantasy points than expected this season based on his usage, so the hope is that a better game script and more functional offensive performance can goose his production.
