Jaguars tailback Travis Etienne led a brief second-half comeback attempt against Houston

JACKSONVILLE — Whatever fleeting hopes the Jacksonville Jaguars had of overcoming a 17-0 halftime deficit on Sunday against the Houston Texans rested largely on the back of Travis Etienne.

The third-year tailback had one of his better games as a pro and was a huge part of helping the Jaguars come within a touchdown on their first two possessions of the third quarter.

But like almost everything else on an inexplicable day, his efforts didn’t make a difference in the end as the Texans pulled away from a 17-10 lead to win 37-17 at EverBank Stadium.

Jaguars takeaways: Jags look lifeless in 37-17 loss to Houston Texans

“It means nothing,” Etienne said of his 88 yards rushing and 50 yards on four pass receptions, including 49 total yards on the Jaguars’ touchdown drive to start the second half. “I tried to continue to make plays for my team and be in a position to win the game and we [weren’t] in a position to win the game.”

Etienne has balanced day

Etienne’s rushing yards (on 19 carries, seven more than last week against Kansas City) were the sixth-most in one game for his NFL career and he matched his previous high for receptions and receiving yards. His 138 scrimmage yards were his third-most, behind 162 against Denver and 140 against the Texans in 2022.

The Jaguars (1-2) seemed more determined to run the ball after criticism last week that they were too pass-heavy (the team had only 18 runs against the Chiefs). Etienne had 52 yards on 13 attempts in the first half and the Jags had 4.6 yards per attempt.

Jaguars' report card: Offense, defense, special teams, coaching all get Fs

But the Jags were still blanked in the first half, giving them six consecutive quarters without getting a touchdown. The most disturbing part of the first 30 minutes was two drops by Calvin Ridley, including one in the end zone on the Jags' opening drive of the game.

Etienne dominated opening drive

Etienne gave the offense the dose of energy it needed coming out of halftime.

He took a lateral from quarterback Trevor Lawrence and went 11 yards around the left side on the first play. He then went around the right side for a 16-yard run to the Texans’ 40 and later took a screen pass from Lawrence and picked up 17 yards to the Houston 23, behind blocks by guard Brandon Scherff and Ridley.

The drive ended on a 1-yard TD run by Tank Bigsby.

Brandon McManus kicked a 33-yard field goal on the next possession to cut the score to 17-10 but Houston (1-2) scored the next 17 points to douse any comeback hopes, starting with an 85-yard kickoff return by 255-pound upback Andrew Beck.

"I think grabbing their attention at halftime and just letting them know that the first 30 minutes was unacceptable," Jaguars coach Doug Pederson said about the brief comeback. "It's not up to what our standards are and our expectations, including my expectations for this football team. So, they came out, they executed extremely well. We got it back to that 17-10 mark and then the kickoff return happened."

Lost momentum

Etienne’s day ended midway through the fourth quarter and the Jags trailing 34-17 when he developed cramps after an 8-yard reception. By that time Lawrence and the offense couldn’t waste a lot of time running the ball anyway.

Etienne believed that the team had turned a corner in the third quarter.

“I felt like we had a lot of momentum,” he said. “We were really, really anxious to get back on the field [for the second half].”

It lasted right up to the point that Beck, making his first career kickoff return, bobbled the ball and broke four tackles on his way to the end zone.

Etienne said he doesn’t care about his stats or the fact that the Jaguars ran for a season-high 116 yards.

“We lost, so what really was successful?” he said. “We’ve got to put this game to bed tomorrow and hae a better game plan going into next week [against Atlanta in London]. We have to find ways to get better. We just don’t look really good right now. You watched today. Everybody’s seen it. Everybody knows what just happened. We just got to own it. We’re all professionals. Move forward and just get better.”

This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Travis Etienne had one of his better offensive games in Jaguars loss