Paul Bretl | 12/19/2024
GREEN BAY, Wis. — Running back Josh Jacobs has shouldered a heavy workload for the Packers’ offense this season. But now, as the regular season begins to wind down and with the playoffs on the horizon, does Green Bay need to be more mindful of Jacobs’ touches in these remaining weeks?
“I think that’s all the time,” said Matt LaFleur when asked about being aware of Jacobs’ workload. “I think we got to be mindful of his workload 100% and he’s, he does a great job communicating with us in terms of where he’s at, and he’s been pretty healthy. So and certainly the production speaks for itself. I mean, he’s, he’s an animal out there.”
Through now 14 games, Jacobs has carried the ball 265 times this season–the third-highest mark among running backs. If we add in his 31 receptions, Jacobs has touched the ball nearly 300 times this season and has been on the field for 589 snaps.
This heavy involvement in the offense isn’t anything new for Jacobs. During his All-Pro 2022 season was Las Vegas, Jacobs was on the field for over 800 offensive snaps and carried the ball 340 times that year, on his way to rushing for 1,653 yards.
Although the path that Jacobs is currently on with Green Bay may not be uncharted territory, he is on pace for this 2024 season to be the second most carries he’s had over his six year playing career. So with three games to go, how is Jacobs holding up?
“I feel great,” said Jacobs at his locker on Thursday. “I feel great. I don’t have no bruises, no nothing right now. 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 precautious but I feel great.”
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Jacobs’ certainly has the ability to make defenders miss. He’s going to enter Week 16 with the second-most missed tackles forced among running backs in 2024, according to PFF. But as an often in between the tackle runner, there’s a level of physicality that Jacobs brings as well, and with that can come a lot of hits.
Taking those hits as a running back is just an entry-level requirement that comes with the job description. However, with Jacobs’ running style, he can mitigate the impact of those hits, thus reducing the constant pounding that can come with carrying the ball as often as he has.
“I don’t think defenders really hit me that hard,” added Jacobs. “I kind of pick and choose, too. 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. 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.”
The other part of that equation for the Packers’ offense when it comes to being mindful of the wear-and-tear being put on Jacobs are the play-calls and the execution from the offensive line, so he has more running lanes and space to operate within, rather than being hit quickly.
“Very few times do I feel like when we give him the ball, he doesn’t make the first guy miss,” said Matt LaFleur. “And so hopefully we’ll continue to draw up some better things for him, because he’s, he’s handled a lot of tough yards where he’s getting hit in the hole or a yard downfield and still getting positive yardage out of the plays.”
The preparation for Jacobs to make sure that he is physically at his best on Sundays starts the week prior, with his recovery following the previous week’s game, along with what he eats throughout the week and his workout regimen.
Also, an important factor in that equation is the daily communication with the coaching staff, specifically how Jacobs is feeling that day and what his workload in practice is going to look like to ensure he’s being put in the best position to perform on gamedays.
“If I let him, he’d take every rep in practice,” said running backs coach Ben Sirmans. “That’s the type of mindset that he has. But you’ve just got to be smart with him. We do walk-throughs, also, so that’s an opportunity for him to get his reps and go through the sequence of a play.
“It’s more of me making sure that I can maximize him enough during the week to where he’s getting something out of it so that way when Sunday or Monday comes around, he’s at his full energetic level.”
Since the bye week, Jacobs and the run game has often been the catalyst for the Packers’ offense. That ability to produce steadily on the ground keeps the offense ahead of the sticks and out of predictable passing situations. Operating from those short down-and-distance situations then opens up the entire playbook for the offense, and as a result, spreads the defense out.
“It’s been very huge for us,” said Jordan Love about Jacobs and the run game. “I think, 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.
“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. I think it’s also a mentality. It gives everybody from the o-line to the running backs, everybody just confidence when you can come out and start the game just pounding the ball in the run game.”
At 10-4, the Packers are positioned well when it comes to making the playoffs. And with NFC North title just about mathmatically out of reach, they are also pretty locked into being the NFC’s sixth-seed in the playoffs.
However, while all that is true, none of what was just mentioned is set in stone either. Green Bay still hasn’t clinched a playoff spot–although they’ll have the opportunity to do so on Monday against New Orleans–and moving up to the NFC’s fifth-seed is still in play at this point.
So until any or all of that changes and the Packers are locked into a playoff spot, it’s going to be business as usual, with the focus on getting better each day and continuing to win on Sundays–which means, Jacobs, for the time being, is likely going to remain a key part of that equation.
“I worry about trying to be our best in the moment and get better and better and better and, I mean, there’s nothing’s a lock for us,” added LaFleur. “So you’ve got to go and win games. Now, having said that, when we get to that point, if we get to that point, then I think that’s a conversation.”