Paul Bretl | 12/5/2024
GREEN BAY, Wis. — Thursday night’s game against Detroit will be the Packers’ third in just 12 days. During those first two contests, Josh Jacobs has handled a heavy workload, but he’s ready for more.
“I feel great,” said Jacobs at his locker on Tuesday. “I feel good.”
Up against San Francisco, Jacobs would carry the ball 26 times in that game totaling 106 yards and included three one-yard touchdown runs. Then just a few days later versus Miami, Jacobs would carry the ball 21 more times, and while he would finish with only 43 rushing yards, Jacobs would still eclipse the 100 total yard mark with a 49 yard catch and run.
This heavy workload isn’t new to Jacobs. He’s done it his entire career before joining the Packers and has done it for most of this season as well. Entering Week 14, Jacobs ranks fourth among all running backs in rush attempts this season with 221.
In order to make sure he is as fresh as possible come gamedays, constant communication between Jacobs an the coaching staff throughout the week is crucial, as is being mindful of his practice reps.
“He does a great job communicating with us where he’s at,” said LaFleur. “So I trust him in terms of, if he needs more that he’ll let us know and if, he needs less, he’ll also let us know. But we are mindful of just how many reps he’s getting throughout the course of the week.
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“He’s a guy that I really don’t worry about in terms of assignment. And every rep he gets, it’s meaningful, whether it’s in a walk through, he is taking the correct footwork, he’s pressing the right gaps, he’s reading it the right way, making sure all the little details are on point.”
The Packers would have no issue is Jacobs took some days off from practice to give his body some additional rest before Sundays–or in this case Thursdays–but that is where Jacobs and the team feels differently.
“They be getting on me because they be wanting me to take less reps, but I think it’s important for the guys to see me work,” Jacobs said. “I think it’s important to get the reps. So, I practice.”
As the offense has begun to find its groove, Jacobs and the run game have been the catalyst behind that, particularly in the red zone and on third downs–those must have it situations–where Green Bay had struggled for the first half of the season.
In the last two games, the Packers have converted 48 percent of their third down attempts, which for some context, over the course of the season would be the third-highest mark in football. Then in the red zone, meanwhile, the Packers went from ranking 27th in that category following the game against Chicago, to converting eight of their last 10 trips into touchdowns. Again, for more context, that success rate over the entire season would lead the league.
The impact of the run game on these recent third down and red zone figures is that moving the ball on the ground often keeps the offense ahead of the sticks and out of predictable passing situations. In short down-and-distance situations, the entire playbook is open for the offense, which can create opportunities for the passing game, and the defense is on its heels, having to defend the entire field while being prepared for both the run and the pass.
Playing from these advantageous situations, the Packers’ already dynamic passing game that, despite the inconsistent play, has been one of the best at generating explosive plays this season, now has efficiency a part of the equation as well.
“That opens up just a lot of things that we can get to,” said Tucker Kraft of Jacobs and the run game. “We can get to play pass, and we got shots off the runs that we have. So just opens the playbook up even more. And we don’t even have to get to those plays. We just still rely on our backs.”
Awaiting the Packers this week are the Lions, in what is a must-win game for Green Bay if they want to keep their hopes of winning the NFC North alive. Given what’s at stake for the Packers, the time of the year with the season beginning to wind down, and that it’s a primetime game, the magnitude of Thursday’s matchup doesn’t get much bigger than this in the regular season, and its an opportunity that Jacobs relishes to be a part of.
“I love these type of games,” said Jacobs. “I feel like it brings out the best in me. I feel like I’m the utmost competitor, so whenever I get a chance to prove myself or prove my team right, that’s something that I always look forward to doing.”
Awaiting the Packers is a Detroit defense that ranks second in red zone defense this season, is first in third down defense, and is second in scoring. However, this is a very banged up front seven for the Lions as well.
On Wednesday’s final injury report, the Lions’ ruled out defensive linemen Levi Onwuzurike, Josh Paschal, and DJ Reader. This is in addition to already not having John Cominsky, Marcus Davenport, and Aidan Hutchinson, along with linebackers Alex Anzalone, Derrick Barnes, and Malcolm Rodriguez, all of whom are on injured reserve.
In the secondary, the Lions will have both starting boundary cornerbacks available in Terrion Arnold and Carlton Davis for the first time in a few weeks, in addition to having ball-hawking safeties Kerby Joseph and Brian Branch on the back end. Matchup-wise, in terms of where the opportunity could lie for the Packers’ offense, it looks like this could be another Jacobs-heavy game for Green Bay.
“You kind of have to see what they’ve done throughout the course of the year and just kind of see what they’re about,” said Adam Stenavich of Detroit’s injuries. “They could obviously change their game plan depending on what personnel they have so kind of as the game goes on, we may have to make some adjustments for sure with all of that.”
The last time these two teams met, it was a slow and mistake-filled start for the Packers’ offense that put them in an early hole–one that was far too big to overcome against a team of Detroit’s caliber. But since then, this unit has been able to find its groove with Jacobs leading the way, and Thursday’s game may not be any different.
In an offense with LaFleur as the play-caller, Jordan Love at quarterback and a litany of pass-catching options, the passing game is never going to be forgotten about, but the run game is the foundation and blueprint for the offense’s success.
“I remember we did a lot of things that hurt ourselves and put us in a situation where I feel like we were playing catch-up for the whole second half of the game,” Jacobs said. “I think that we did a lot of things well early. We cut down on mistakes, it’s going to come down to the wire but it’ll be a better game.