JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- Jacksonville Jaguars running backs coach Bernie Parmalee was sitting in his office watching game tape of the running back prospects the team was interested in ahead of the 2023 draft.

Parmalee would watch a few plays and take some notes. He repeated that again and again, until the first (and second) tape ended.

But then Parmalee put in Tank Bigsby’s tape.

“I’m sitting there with the clicker and I’m like, ‘Let me run that back,’” Parmalee remembered. “'Ooh, this is cool.'

“… This is the type of back we wanted to bring to the table, and he fit everything that we were looking for and he popped off the screen.”

The Jaguars have a 1,000-yard rusher in Travis Etienne Jr. but drafted Bigsby in the third round. After an impressive spring and start to training camp, it looks like Bigsby might have earned a bigger role in the offense.

Coach Doug Pederson said the more comfortable Bigsby gets as the season progresses, the bigger his role could get.

“I think you’ve still got to be careful with how much you expand his role,” Pederson said. “I think he’s done a nice job so far, there’s still some learning to do and some growing to do as a rookie. Keeping him where he is right now is a good thing and expand maybe as you go.

“There’s a lot of football ahead of us, so we’re just going to pump the brakes and make sure he’s good with what he can handle.”

The Jaguars relied heavily on Etienne in 2022, mainly because they didn’t have much choice. James Robinson started the first five games and got the bulk of the work, but a nagging knee issue limited him during practices, and Etienne gradually took over as the Jaguars’ top back by mid-October.

Etienne played so well the Jaguars felt comfortable enough trading Robinson to the New York Jets on Oct. 25, but that left rookie fifth-round pick Snoop Conner and JaMycal Hasty, whom the team signed after final cuts, as the two options behind Etienne for the rest of the season. Etienne accounted for 74% of the running back carries after that point, a workload that the Jaguars did not want to see continue.

The Jaguars signed D’Ernest Johnson in free agency in March. He ran for 738 yards in four seasons with the Cleveland Browns -- including 534 yards in 2021 when he subbed for injured backs Nick Chubb and Kareem Hunt -- and it looked like he was going to be the No. 2 behind Etienne.

Johnson hasn’t had a bad camp, but Bigsby has stood out. Bigsby, at 5-foot-11 and 215 pounds, is a physical runner but has flashed his speed and ability to catch the ball out of the backfield, too.

“Outside of the size, speed, athleticism, and all that, this kid is a sponge,” Pederson said. “He’s really a smart, young running back. He understands defense. One of the things that’s been really impressive, too, is taking the coaching. Whether it be from Bernie or myself or even [OL coach] Phil Rauscher, being able to take that and apply it to what he’s doing and he’s just improving every day.

“There’s some really good talent in that room. I would even say he’s a better pass-catcher [than anticipated].”

Bigsby, who ran for 2,903 yards and 25 touchdowns and caught 62 passes for 448 yards in three seasons at Auburn, said he’s not focusing on what kind of role he could have as a rookie.

“We just work,” Bigsby said. “We tell each other come out and compete and keep getting better and better every day.”

Etienne isn’t bothered by his workload potentially decreasing in 2023. He accounted for 1,441 yards of total offense on 255 touches in 2022 after missing his rookie season with a Lisfranc injury, but said in the spring that he welcomes the additional help to take some wear and tear off his body.

That should help him be more productive, he said, especially after an offseason in which he worked on being a more savvy and patient runner, squaring his shoulders to the line of scrimmage better, and gaining a better understanding of blocking schemes.

So it’s possible that, even with fewer touches, Etienne could be just as, if not more, productive in 2023, Parmalee said.

“There’s a lot more [that Etienne can do],” Parmalee said. “We talk about it every day. So he knows it, too. It’s one thing when you sit there as a coach and you talk about it and the player doesn’t realize it, but when the player realizes what you’re talking about is true and he’s going to do everything he has to make sure he gets better at that, it’s going to bode well.”

Etienne said it doesn’t matter whether it’s Bigsby or Johnson taking a bigger role because there are no egos among the group.

“Everybody is here for one reason and that’s to win football games,” Etienne said. “I feel like that’s going to go a long ways. There’s no jealousy within the room. Everybody’s here rooting each other and we’re all helping each other try to get better.”