Tank Bigsby credits Auburn adversity for preparing him for NFL

Jacksonville Jaguars running back Tank Bigsby figures Auburn prepared him well for the NFL, not because he carried the football 541 times for 2,906 yards and 25 touchdowns, but because he played for two head coaches and two interim head coaches in three seasons.

“At Auburn, we’ve been through a lot of adversity,” Bigsby said on “The O-Zone Podcast” this week, “and I feel like that school got me ready for a lot of things. And when I came to the league and had a little adversity, I didn’t let it change my character. I stayed who I was and true to myself. You know, kept praying and asking God to show me the way. Don’t flinch. When you get your opportunities, just try to take full advantage. When you go from carrying the ball for a team, consistently, then you’re going to get a couple ops here and there, it kind of play with you a little bit. Then I learned about the NFL, what the NFL really was, I was like, you know, this is what I got to do. This is how I got to come. And I just got to know my job and my role. And when I get an opportunity, I got to be ready. …

“This offseason, I told myself, whatever the Jags ask out of me, I have to do it in my best ability because I don’t know when the next time I’ll get an opportunity. So I have a testimony, but it’s a story for another day. But it’s a blessing to be able to understand what I went through last year and learn a lesson and get where I’m at today.”

Auburn’s leading rusher in each of his three seasons on the Plains, Bigsby left the Tigers as a third-round selection in the 2023 NFL Draft.

As a rookie, Bigsby played in every game, but he totaled 141 offensive snaps and 132 yards and two touchdowns on 50 rushing attempts.

“In college, you get so many opportunities,” Bigsby said, “and you get to the league, and it’s a business. I’ll never forget last year. I wasn’t performing well, and they had bumped me down to third. And I was — I didn’t let it sit well with me, and it just did something to me. I didn’t know when the next opportunity was coming, and it just fired me up, and I still hold that fire to this day. And I just thank God for that, putting me through that because, at the end of the day, I wouldn’t be who I am as a man and as a player if I didn’t go through that, so at the end of the day, I thank him for all my trials and tribulations, everything I go through, because it built me to a better character.”

The opportunities have been more frequent this season as two-time 1,000-yard rusher Travis Etienne has run into injury issues.

Bigsby opened the season by running for 73 yards on 12 carries as Jacksonville lost to the Miami Dolphins 20-17 on Sept. 8. During the next two games, Bigsby had two carries for 9 yards. But in three of the past four games, Bigsby has set personal-bests for rushing yards.

Bigsby ran for 90 yards on seven carries in a 24-20 loss to the Houston Texans on Sept. 29, 101 yards and two touchdowns on 13 carries in a 37-34 victory over the Indianapolis Colts on Oct. 6 and 118 yards and two touchdowns on 26 carries in a 32-16 victory over the New England Patriots on Oct. 20.

“I feel like my confidence comes from my faith,” Bigsby said. “Just preparation and preparing and getting an understanding of the game and also hard work during the offseason. Last year was a learning season for me, first year in the league, and I just feel like this league’s about opportunity. And confidence come where you’re getting going, and once again, I say, like, you have a lot of faith and hard work, you put those two together, it’s like your confidence go through the roof.”