Packers Star Josh Jacobs Is ‘Almost Like Wolverine’

Green Bay Packers running back Josh Jacobs has handled an incredible workload and taken a lot of punishment for the Packers. With the playoffs on the horizon, he’s ready for more. How?

Green Bay Packers running back Josh Jacobs is third in the NFL in rushing. / Steven Bisig-Imagn Images

GREEN BAY, Wis. – During Sunday night’s blowout victory over the Seattle Seahawks, Green Bay Packers star Josh Jacobs carried 26 times and caught four passes for 136 total yards.

After the game, position coach Ben Sirmans checked on his running back, figuring he’d be sore and barely able to walk.

“He said, ‘I’m good. I’m good.’ He had a nice pep in his step,” Sirmans said after Thursday’s snowy practice.

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

Even if Jacobs is one part man, one part Marvel mutant, two things can be true at once.

Good things happen when Jacobs gets the ball.

Also, the Packers might need to cut back on the number of times that Jacobs gets the ball.

With 14 games down and three to go, Jacobs is tied for third in the NFL with 296 touches. Only the Eagles’ Saquon Barkley (316) and the Rams’ Kyren Williams (310) have more.

There’s obviously some chicken-and-egg to it, but the Packers are 8-0 when Jacobs gets 20-plus touches and 2-4 when he gets less than 20.

“He’s an animal out there,” coach Matt LaFleur said after practice.

However, with the Packers having a stranglehold on a playoff spot – they would clinch with a victory over the New Orleans Saints on Monday night – is it time to cut back on Jacobs’ enormous workload to make sure he’s at his best for the postseason?

“I’m just worried about today,” LaFleur said.

That’s the world a coach needs to live in. However, with a playoff spot practically etched in stone, doesn’t LaFleur need to have at least part of one eye focused on the second weekend of January, when the Packers will travel to a division winner for a wild-card matchup?

“I worry about trying to be our best in the moment and get better and better,” LaFleur said. “Nothing’s a lock for us. 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.”

That means it will be full speed ahead into Monday night’s game.

Jacobs would want it no other way.

“I want the ball,” Jacobs said with a laugh.

“Anything I can do to help this team win. If we pass the ball 40 times and we win, I’m OK with it. I’m not complaining about it at all. But I definitely want to be part of helping the team win.”

Jacobs, who is third in the NFL with 1,147 rushing yards, has done more than help the Packers post a 10-4 record. His addition to the roster has brought old-school football back to Lambeau Field. Green Bay is running the ball 51.2 percent of the time this season, the second-highest rate in the NFL. The Packers ran the ball 43.0 percent of the time last year; the high-water mark under LaFleur was 43.8 percent in 2020.

Jacobs’ 296 touches this season are the third-most of his career; he’s likely to pass his 2020 total of 306 touches sometime in the first half against the Saints. He’s on pace to threaten his career high of 387 during his All-Pro season of 2022.

Does he think he needs maybe just a little bit less work to be at full speed for the playoffs?

Nope.

“Yeah, I feel great,” Jacobs said. “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 cautious, but I feel great.”

How?

Jacobs is one of the NFL’s most violent runners. According to Pro Football Focus, he’s forced 60 missed tackles – one behind the Cardinals’ James Conner for most in the NFL.

He’s constantly trying to maximize every attempt, which means fighting for additional extra inches and yards and taking additional punishment. There are times early in games when he tries to “set the tone” by seeking contact and trying to run over a defender rather than around him.

So, what’s been the key to having “no bruises,” even after averaging 23.8 touches per game since the bye?

“I don’t think defenders really hit me that hard, I feel like,” Jacobs said. “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.”

Sirmans’ first NFL job was with the St. Louis Rams from 2012 through 2015. In 2012, Jackson recorded his eighth consecutive 1,000-yard season. Like Jacobs, Jackson never ducked contact or gave up on a run.

So, how does Jacobs minimize the impact of taking so many hits?

“He does a good job of absorbing hits,” Sirmans said. “When he takes a shot, sometimes you may see guys bounce off of him or, when he’s about to get hit, you’ll see him accelerate his feet on the contact, so now you’re not taking on the full brunt of that force, because he is a pretty compact running back.

“I think being able to absorb hits and accelerate, it’s not allowing people to unfold on him with all that force. Then, you’ll see him spin off stuff when he gets hit. He’s done a really good job of understanding how to take on the hit but also how to dish it out to where you’re not taking on the brunt of the force when somebody’s trying to tackle you. Some guys don’t even try – they don’t want to totally unleash on him just because they understand if you go at this guy full speed and he’s coming at you, you’re going to feel that.”

The coaches do what they can to lessen the load during the practice week. But Jacobs likes the grind of the practice week and prefers to lead by example.

“We’ll call a play and he’s running 70 yards downfield for a touchdown,” Sirmans said. “It’s like, ‘Man come back, come back.’ That’s just how he plays. The good part about having that mentality is that’s what you see on Sunday and Monday.”

During five seasons with the Raiders, Jacobs’ annual average was 300 touches. His 296 this season are the 15th-most in Packers history and the most since Eddie Lacy’s 319 in 2013. Ahman Green’s franchise-record 405 in 2003 probably is safe, but he should easily nudge aside Dorsey Levens’ 350 touches in 1999 to get into the top five.

Sirmans sees no reason why Jacobs can’t continue to carry the load, if necessary.

“I think it’s his heart and mind and mentality are at a such high-rate level of performance and he wants to do well for his teammates and get in there and experience the opportunities to win,” Sirmans said, “that I think it just overrides fatigue in his body.”

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