Here’s Why Josh Jacobs Can’t And Won’t Be Stopped

GREEN BAY, Wis. – During his junior season at McLain High School in Tulsa, Okla., Josh Jacobs learned a painful lesson when he suffered a broken clavicle.

He’d rather play football than watch it.

“I was like, yeah, I can’t do this,” Jacobs, the Green Bay Packers’ tough-as-nails running back, said on Tuesday. “I felt like I was going through it more mentally than anything, just sitting there watching. To me, it’s depressing. Either I’m playing or I don’t want to look at it too much. That’s just kind of how I am.”

Jacobs was questionable for Sunday’s loss at the Denver Broncos. Dealing with swelling in the knee injured against the Giants four weeks earlier, he didn’t practice on Wednesday or Thursday but practiced on Friday and scored two impressive touchdowns in the game.

So, with a huge rivalry rematch looming against the Chicago Bears, with first place in the NFC North at stake on Saturday night, of course Jacobs intends to play.

“If it’s up to me, yeah, for sure I’m going to try to go,” Jacobs said.

Ultimately, to a large extent, it will be up to Jacobs. He’s earned that kind of trust during the course of a seven-year career in the NFL and his second season with the Packers under coach Matt LaFleur.

“I just know he knows my mindset,” Jacobs said. “It’s been a couple times since I’ve been here where we kind of clashed on if they was going to allow me to play or not, and every time I had a pretty good game. I think he’s probably to the point where he’s like, ‘Man, I’m just going to trust you. If you say you can do it and you believe that you can do, then I’m going to let you go.’”

The Packers did not practice on Tuesday. If they would have, Jacobs would not have participated. Jacobs would rather practice than not practice, but, at this point, it’s about getting him as healthy as possible for the games.

“I’ll never count him out of the fight, I’ll tell you that,” LaFleur said.

Green Bay Packers running back Josh Jacobs (8) runs for a touchdown past Denver Broncos cornerback Riley Moss. | Isaiah J. Downing-Imagn Images

Jacobs intends to show up for the fight because he’d rather not have to watch it. In two seasons in Green Bay, he’s missed only one game. That was the Vikings game the week after the injury. His absence from that game was more about the short turnaround before the Thursday game against Detroit.

“One thing I will say about this organization is that they do truly have your best interests at heart,” Jacobs said. “Like, it’d be certain times where they’re like, ‘Man, I wouldn’t advise you to do it. You might just need to rest’ or whatever, whatever but, ultimately, I think it comes down to me.

“It’s my decision at the end of the day. What do I feel? Do I feel like I’m going to hinder the team? Do I feel like I can add value to the team? If I feel like I can, I’m going to do everything I can to play.”

Jacobs showed his value in the win against the Bears two weeks ago, when his 20 carries for 86 yards included an incredible 21-yard run on third down in which he beat four defenders at the point of attack to turn a negative-yardage play into the setup for his leg-churning, go-ahead touchdown run.

He was tremendous again at Denver, with a highlight-reel touchdown catch and a 40-yard touchdown run on a sensationally blocked play

Jacobs got only 14 touches against the Broncos, but the injury was aggravated when he was stuffed on a third-and-1 run on his third touch of the opening drive. After a brief stint on the sideline, Jacobs was tired of watching and went back in the game.

“Sometimes you’ve got to talk to yourself, man,” he said. “It was hurting when I was running. It was funny because my dad said he’d seen my face when I was running. But it’s just a part of it. Sometimes, you’ve got to talk to yourself in this game.”

Jacobs said the swelling in his left knee was about the same as last week. He is doing what he can treatment-wise to get ready for games. That includes wearing a Firefly, which stimulates blood flow through its pulse technology. Really, though, the only thing that will make his knee feel better is rest.

There’s no time for that, though, with the Packers battling for playoff positioning while trying to overcome the loss of Micah Parsons.

“I would say, obviously, we have something to play for,” Jacobs said. “I think it’s be a totally different situation if we was 3-and-whatever. I’d be looking at you like, ‘Yeah, I’m going to protect myself.’

“But because of the fact that we have something to play for and we still have a lot in front of us and even personally still got some goals that I want to hit this season, so for me, yeah, it’s like why would I not try to go strive to get those or strive to help this team if it’s still in front of us?”

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