On Sept. 29, Jacksonville Jaguars running back Tank Bigsby reached a career high with 90 rushing yards on seven carries in a 24-20 loss to the Houston Texans on Sept. 29.
The next week, the former Auburn standout accomplished that again with 101 yards and two touchdowns on 13 carries in a 37-34 victory over the Indianapolis Colts.
Last week, Bigsby had 24 yards on seven carries, even though starting running back Travis Etienne was limited to three carries by a hamstring injury in a 35-16 loss to the Chicago Bears.
On Sunday, Bigsby got back on the career-high track, even though the Jaguars started D’Ernest Johnson at running back with Etienne out against the New England Patriots. Bigsby ran for 118 yards and two touchdowns on 26 carries in Jacksonville’s 32-16 victory in London.
“You don’t get too many opportunities in this National Football League,” Bigsby said, “so when you get one, you have to take full advantage of them and do it at your best ability.
“I felt like as we kept running the ball, the Patriots would get tired. We just got to keep going and keep going and keep going, and I just took advantage of those opportunities because on film it showed fourth quarter come, third quarter come, those guys’ll start arm-tackling and they’ll start loafing, so we just did what we had to do when those ops came.”
Bigsby scored on a 1-yard run to cap a six-play, 82-yard drive as the Jaguars took a 14-10 lead with 3:32 left in the first half.
Bigsby scored the game’s final touchdown on a 4-yard run with 1:41 remaining.
“He’s done a really good job for us,” Jacksonville coach Doug Pederson said. “Going into the season behind (Etienne), he’s earned the right to be out there, an opportunity. He did a nice job today. Ran hard, ran tough, as they say ran behind his pads.”
But that doesn’t mean Bigsby’s feat of three career days in four games had pushed him past Etienne in the Jaguars’ backfield pecking order.
“I’m a believer in injury doesn’t replace your position,” Pederson said. “I think you have to have a fair competition. For us, we’re blessed to have two really good running backs right now, and when Etienne comes back, he’s just as explosive, just as good, just as powerful, and it’s still his job.
“But Tank has done some really good things. Obviously, we’re going to continue to find ways to put the ball in his hands, too, because he’s a little different runner than Etienne is.”
A 2021 first-round draft pick and a 1,000-yard rusher in his first two seasons, Etienne has 230 yards and two touchdowns on 56 carries and 16 receptions for 91 yards this season.
A third-round draft pick in 2022, Bigsby has 415 yards and four touchdowns on 67 carries and one reception for 28 yards in 2024.
“I just do whatever I have to do for this team to win – whatever my job is, whatever my role is, whatever I have to do – at my best ability,” Bigsby said. “Take advantage of the opportunities, of course, but just come out and help this team win. That’s what I try to do.”
Sunday’s game at Wembley Stadium matched two teams with 1-5 records.
“I feel like this is a time of adversity,” Bigsby said, “and adversity shows real character. It shows who you can be and who you are. And I feel like today showed what this team can be when our backs’re against the wall and we’re going through something, so let’s keep going.”
After playing two straight Sundays in London, the Jaguars return to Jacksonville, where they’ll face the Green Bay Packers at noon CDT Oct. 27.
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Mark Inabinett is a sports reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter at @AMarkG1.
