Jaguars rookie running-back Travis Etienne is reportedly out indefinitely after suffering a mid-foot sprain in Monday night’s preseason game against the Saints. While it is difficult to speculate on Etienne’s timetable until further testing is done, there are several questions we can answer now to get a better understanding of the impact on Etienne’s career and the Jaguars’ season.
What is the Lisfranc ligament?
Although this subject has been thoroughly hashed out already throughout the football world, a basic understanding of the Lisfranc ligament is crucial to grasping Etienne’s current situation. The Lisfranc is a bone-connecting band of tissue in the foot serving weight-bearing and shock-absorption purposes. There are three basic types of Lisfranc injuries — tears, fractures, sprains. While a sprain, as opposed to a fracture, is typically a good thing, some studies have suggested fractures to the Lisfranc region actually heal better in the long term than sprains.
What are the long-term repercussions?
While Etienne could be back on the field in anywhere from four weeks to one year, the injury will likely have long-term effects. A 2018 study by Dr. Sameer K Singh on the effects of Lisfranc injuries on NFL players found the following:
“Overall, NFL players started fewer games 2 and 3 seasons following surgery… and showed a significant decline in performance 1 season after return compared with preinjury levels. Offensive players had a significantly greater decline in statistical performance compared with defensive counterparts. Although professional NFL athletes return to play at a high rate following Lisfranc injury, their league participation and performance is significantly decreased on return.”
Logically, and as supported by the study, offensive players who rely on acceleration or elusiveness would be the most adversely affected.
While the Etienne injury is a reason for concern, it is unlikely it will immediately derail his career to the extent of a player like Maurice Jones-Drew or Santonio Holmes. Etienne is substantially younger, and we’ve seen young players like Hollywood Brown and Chris Carson bounce back with some moderate success. The best comparison may be Le’Veon Bell, who suffered a Lisfranc injury during his rookie year. Bell went on to a successful, albeit brief, NFL career that was also dampened by unrelated severe ACL injuries. Based off these comparisons, we may not start to see the true consequences of Etienne’s injury until later in his career.
Do the Jaguars need to make any roster moves in response to the injury?
Depending on the severity of Etienne’s sprain, the Jaguars may look to some outside help at the running back position. While James Robinson has shown he is a capable workhorse — backup Carlos Hyde has looked like Emmitt Smith. Current day Emmitt Smith, to be clear. If Robinson were to also be injured, a backfield comprised of Hyde, Ozigbo and Ogunbowale would put a massive burden on the shoulders of rookie Trevor Lawrence.
Examining the above list of free-agent RBs, the most appealing name seems be Duke Johnson. Johnson has been an intriguing figure for several years — criminally underutilized in Cleveland and Houston — but still managing to average 4.2 yards-per-carry and 9.2 yards-per-reception. One of the more talented receiving backs in the NFL, he would perfectly complement James Robinson, and would seamlessly fit in to Etienne’s receiving and change of pace role.
