Travis Etienne Jr. is set to make his return after a five game absence, and he could be in line for a big role in his first game back. Etienne is one of three New Orleans Saints to recently return from injured reserve, including Jordyn Tyson and Kelvin Banks Jr. last week. Etienne’s ramp up looks a little different and is a reason he should be in line for a bigger role than Tyson had versus the Browns.
Etienne is returning to action after a week of practice, like Tyson and Banks, but he was full participant in practice this week. Banks and Tyson didn’t progress that quickly.
As a full participant in practice, Etienne should see his regular workload. It probably won’t be 20 carries, which has more to do with who he’s now sharing the backfield with. Numbers aside, Etienne’s practice schedule says he will be a big part of the Saints rushing attack.
Travis Etienne and Audric Estime could give the Saints a good 1-2 punch
We thought it was going to be Etienne and Alvin Kamara leading the rushing attack. In the words of Lee Corso, “not so fast, my friend.” A new player has entered the chat, and his name is Audric Estime.
The usage of all the running backs will be something to watch closely. The Saints could have a legitimate three man backfield, if they choose to use all of them. What does that look like, however?
In Etienne’s absence, Kendre Miller and then Estime was the lead back, and Kamara played a complementary role. This is where things get interesting. Kamara will remain in a complementary role, but will he be the secondary or tertiary running back?
Estime played too well last week after an impressive 2025 campaign to be relegated to the back. He’s earned his carries, and the Saints will be better for it.
Keeping Kamara in a lower carry, more receiving based role will maximize his usage and give the Etienne-Estime duo a greater role in the rushing attack. The Saints are still going to be a pass first team, so the split may end with both guys getting around 10-14 carries on a weekly basis.
Together, Etienne and Estime provide the traditional boom and zoom duo and potential for the future, two things the Etienne-Kamara pairing didn’t. The former is a stylistic difference and could give an idea of each player's role.
Etienne has the burst to work best in space, while Estime excels slicing up the middle and has the ability to be the power back. Both players are all around backs, so there's no tipping what the Saints will do. However, there would be no questions of who is thunder and who's lightning.
Feel how you want to about Kamara's 2026 campaign, he has a slim chance of returning in 2027. If the Etienne and Estime duo works, this is something they could ride into next season. There's a lot of potential there on paper, so we'll have to see how it translates on to the field.
Hopefully, the Saints decide to give both players a good amount of touches early in the game to take the pressure off of Shough's shoulders and not put him in position to have to throw the Saints back into the game. With Etienne being activated, the usage of the three man rotation quickly became one of the more fascinating things to watch this week.
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