Josh Jacobs re-emerging as one of the NFL’s elite RBs again in his first season with Packers

GREEN BAY, Wis. (AP) — All Josh Jacobs needed was a change of scenery to regain his status as one of the NFL’s top running backs.

After enduring the worst season of his career last year in Las Vegas, Jacobs has bounced back in a big way with the Green Bay Packers. Jacobs has recaptured the form he showed in 2022, when he led the NFL in rushing and earned All-Pro honors with the Raiders.

Jacobs never had a doubt he’d produce for his new team.

“I believe in me,” Jacobs said. “I like me in any situation. I tell the guys that all the time. I always try to win my matchups more than I lose them. So, for me, it was just about proving it to the team.”

He’s been proving himself time and time again for the Packers (10-4), who host the New Orleans Saints (5-9) on Monday night.

Jacobs has rushed for 1,147 yards and entered this week’s action ranked third in the league, behind Philadelphia’s Saquon Barkley and Baltimore’s Derrick Henry.

“I mean, he’s an animal out there,” Packers coach Matt LaFleur said. “Very few times do I feel like when we give him the ball, he doesn’t make the first guy miss.”

His productive season follows a 2023 season in which Jacobs held out during the preseason and then rushed for 805 yards while gaining 3.5 yards per attempt, both career lows. Jacobs entered free agency afterward and joined the Packers, giving him an opportunity to play for a contender.

His only playoff experience came in the 2021 season, when current Packers special teams coordinator Rich Bisaccia was the Raiders interim head coach.

“We all loved Rich,” Jacobs recalled. “We all wanted to play for Rich and win for him and win for each other. … That’s how I’ve felt from Day One here. Everybody came in, everybody vibed with each other, everybody’s willing to give extra to each other. That’s the thing that I compare it to. I’m just ready to play playoff football. Obviously, I’m taking it week by week right now, but I can’t wait for that day.”

Jacobs’ emergence is a big reason why the Packers are on the verge of their fifth playoff berth in six years.

Green Bay took a calculated risk when it signed Jacobs and allowed fan favorite Aaron Jones to leave for the Minnesota Vikings. Jones rushed for 5,940 yards in seven seasons with the Packers.

The 26-year-old Jacobs is younger than Jones. The Packers also believed Jacobs would be more durable. Jacobs has backed that up by playing in each of Green Bay’s first 14 games while compiling 265 carries — more than 3½ times as many as any of his teammates.

He’s shown a knack for bouncing off defenders, something that’s caught the Saints attention.

“He almost looks like a bowling ball out there,” Saints linebacker Pete Werner said.

Jacobs has rushed for 688 yards in the first half of games, a figure that led the NFL entering this week’s action. Jacobs’ ability to impose his will early in games has helped the Packers outscore opponents 95-34 in the first quarter.

“We always talk about starting the game off fast, and any time you can just hand the ball to a guy and run the ball down the field, I definitely think it sets kind of the tempo of the game,” quarterback Jordan Love said. “The defense has got to figure out how they’re going to make adjustments. Are they going to try to load the box to stop the run going forward? There’s a lot of things that come out with it.”

The Packers are coming off a 30-13 victory at Seattle in which Jacobs touched the ball on each of Green Bay’s first eight plays from scrimmage, catching two passes before running the ball six straight times. He capped that drive with a 1-yard touchdown run that put Green Bay ahead for good.

By the time the game was over, Jacobs had carried the ball 26 times and caught four passes. Running backs coach Ben Sirmans spoke to him afterward and joked that Jacobs probably was too tired to even walk. Jacobs replied that he was fine, and Sirmans noticed that “he had a nice pep in his step.”

“I guess he’s almost like Wolverine,” Sirmans said. “His body just keeps regenerating itself and he’s good to go.”

The Packers understand they still need to be careful to make sure they don’t tire Jacobs out before the playoffs. Jacobs indicates that won’t be a problem.

“I don’t have no bruises, no nothing right now,” Jacobs said. “I feel great. Just as long as I feel good, I feel like we can do whatever we can do. If I was battling with something right now, then I would probably say be cautious, but I feel great.”

Jacobs said experience has taught him the best way to avoid injury risks while staying productive.

“One thing about playing this long, you kind of know angles and things like that, so even if I do get tackled, it’s not like I’m getting smacked on the tackle,” Jacobs said. “I’m falling a certain type of way, I’m taking angles where I might use their force against them and really help myself. So, for me, I’ve been pretty clean, man. I can’t complain.”

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AP Sports Writer Brett Martel contributed to this report.

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