‘Tough’ Losing Jones, But Jacobs Has Fit Packers’ ‘Culture’

“We aren’t going to get the Dallas treatment, are we?” Packers running backs coach Ben Sirmans recalled of a conversation with new Vikings RB Aaron Jones.

Aaron Jones vs. the Vikings in 2023. / Brad Rempel-USA TODAY Sports

GREEN BAY, Wis. – If Aaron Rodgers owned the Chicago Bears, then Aaron Jones owned the Dallas Cowboys.

At the start of free agency, the Green Bay Packers released Jones. A day later, he signed with the rival Minnesota Vikings.

“After everything went down, I had an opportunity to talk to him,” Packers running backs coach Ben Sirmans said on Wednesday. “We both expressed how we felt about each other. He understands it’s a business.

“Wished him well and, obviously, we talked about seeing each other twice a year, and I jokingly said to him: ‘We aren’t going to get the Dallas treatment, are we?’ He was like, ‘Well, Coach, you know …’ It was one of those deals.”

Sirmans joined the Packers in 2016 and Jones was drafted by the Packers in 2017. So, for seven years, they were together and formed a tight bond.

That all ended on Day 1 of free agency. With the Packers and Jones unable to agree to a restructured contract, general manager Brian Gutekunst shockingly pivoted to Josh Jacobs, with the Packers signing the former All-Pro and releasing Jones.

“It was a tough day, if I’m being transparent about it,” Sirmans said. “But you understand the business. We spent a lot of time together, having an opportunity to know his family, know his dad personally and seeing his son grow up right before us.

“You understand it’s a business, but it was pretty sad at the same time, and just understanding he wasn’t going to – at least physically – be around here anymore. You understand it’s the nature of the business. It’s happened so many times. It’s going to happen again in this profession, but I think the biggest difference this time it was a guy that I had been with for such a long time.”

Gutekunst had called Jones the “heartbeat” of the team. That’s the same word used by Raiders coach Antonio Pierce to describe Jacobs. The person and the player that Jacobs is helped ease the transition.

“I would probably say the biggest disruption was just not having him around more than anything as a person,” Sirmans said. “But now in having Josh around and the type of person he is, how he is in the meeting room, it’s been great. In different ways, obviously, because they’re two different people, but both great people, hard workers. He just came in and assimilated just to the culture of the room right away.”

In 2022, Jacobs led the NFL in rushing and Jones set a career high. In 2023, both players took significant steps back. In 13 games last season, Jacobs rushed for 805 yards (3.5 average) and six touchdowns. His yardage and touchdown counts were cut in half. In 11 games, Jones rushed for 656 yards (4.6 average) and two touchdowns, but he helped carry the team into the playoffs with a franchise-record five consecutive games of 100-plus rushing yards.

While many of the analytical stats from 2023 show the Packers got worse, the team is betting that Jacobs – four years younger than Jones – will return to his All-Pro form and help the team win the Super Bowl.

“I think the biggest thing with him is he’s an explosive player,” Sirmans said. “Obviously, he’s big, he’s physical, he’ll be able to break tackles. He’ll be able to give us a lot of production in different ways than you can say Aaron did, but it’s still, at the end of the day, it’s going to be productive.

“I think that he’s also coming in with a little bit of a chip on his shoulder because we always have something to prove, and you just get the sense that he wants to prove that we made the right decision investing in him and he’s ready to assimilate to this team and help us get over the top and get to the next level.”

More Green Bay Packers News

College coaches: Edgerrin Cooper | Ty’Ron Hopper

“Amazing”: Walter Stanley’s son signs with Packers | Questions at cornerback | Strength at safety | Josh Myers | “Night and day” on offense

All-Star Scouts: Jordan Morgan | Edgerrin Cooper | Javon Bullard | MarShawn Lloyd | Ty’Ron Hopper | Evan Williams, Kitan Oladapo | Travis Glover | Michael Pratt | Kalen King