One of Jacksonville head coach Doug Pederson’s takeaways from assessing the 2-9 Jaguars during their bye week was that the team needs to get its rushing attack going again.
The Jaguars averaged the second-most yards per rushing attempt, 5.7, in the NFL through Week 4. Their 126.3 rushing yards per game stood at a respectable No. 13.
But starting running back Travis Etienne Jr. suffered a shoulder injury in Week 4, and eventually dealt with a hamstring injury that limited his usage through Week 9.
Etienne’s rushing counterpart, Tank Bigsby, appeared on Jacksonville’s injury report with a hurt ankle in Week 9. He aggravated the injury in Week 10 and did not play in Week 11.
Both Etienne and Bigsby are beyond their injuries following Jacksonville’s bye week, Pederson said Friday, offering the head coach encouragement as he attempts to reignite the Jaguars’ ground game.
“Both guys are real healthy, which is great,” Pederson said Friday.
“There was some — the inconsistency of one guy up and one guy banged up and then kind of flipped and just getting that continuity in that room. But it’s good to have both guys where they are right now. It does give us a lift health-wise in that room and obviously can give us a boost in the run game.”
As a result of Etienne and Bigsby’s limitations, at least in part, the Jaguars now rank No. 11 and No. 25 in the above categories, respectively. They have averaged 4.5 yards per run and 101.6 rushing yards per game through 11 games.
However, Pederson believes it will take more than a healthy running back room to spark Jacksonville’s rushing offense. He pointed to the Jaguars’ need for better blocking at every position and for their quarterback, likely Trevor Lawrence this week, to audible the unit into potentially advantageous run plays.
“That’s something that we have to do better as an offense. We have to run the ball better,” Pederson said Wednesday.
“It’s not just the running backs, it’s all 11 [players], right? It’s the quarterback putting us in the right run if we have run checks. It’s obviously the offensive line, the tight ends, and we know the running backs. So that’s an area that we’ve got to improve, but having two healthy running backs right now definitely helps that.”
Jacksonville will face an average Houston rushing defense on Sunday. The Texans allow 110.8 rushing yards per game, which ranks No. 11 in the NFL, and 4.4 yards per carry, ranking No. 20.
