GREEN BAY – Perhaps the only thing more difficult than taking Josh Jacobs off a football field is keeping him there.
That was clear enough when the Packers' Pro Bowl running back was in pads for practice Thursday, just four days after injuring his knee in a 27-20 win over the New York Giants.
Jacobs, speaking with reporters afterwards, said he sustained a bone bruise and thigh contusion on Green Bay's second snap of the game while playing on the MetLife Stadium turf.
Remarkably, the 5-foot-10, 223-pound running back remained in the game for 10 more snaps until pain became an issue. He finished with 40 rushing yards on seven carries.
"When you hit any part of your knee, when it swells up and you can't really bend it, that's the thing," Jacobs said. "I could play through the pain, but I couldn't really get through the motion, and I couldn't really run. I even felt myself, like a couple of them runs I got afterwards, I was kind of protecting it a little bit and I was not running like how I run."
Jacobs and the Packers breathed a collective sigh of relief when MRIs on Monday indicated no structural damage. With a pivotal NFC North matchup this Sunday with Minnesota, Green Bay is even holding out hope Jacobs may be available.
Known for his durability, Jacobs has missed just nine of a possible 109 regular-season games dating back to his rookie season in 2019.
A testament to that toughness, Jacobs fractured the growth plate in his shoulder midway through his rookie campaign in a game against the Packers after trucking through former Green Bay safety Adrian Amos.
Jacobs still ran for a season-high 124 rushing yards that day on his way to 1,150 yards and seven touchdowns. The injury bothered him all season, frequently interrupting his sleep, but he stayed on the field until finally shutting it down late in the year.
Jacobs was as concerned as anyone after banging his knee on the turf Sunday, but he saw enough progress where the team felt comfortable with Jacobs practicing Thursday.
"The way it felt, I'm like it's no way that nothing is wrong," Jacobs said. "Even looking at my MRI, just seeing how much swelling and stuff I had in there, that was just the main thing and really now today it's already 50%, probably 60% of the swelling is gone."
Jacobs has amassed 885 total yards this season and ranks second in the NFL with 11 touchdown runs despite running most of the season behind a banged-up Packers offensive line and dealing with a few injuries himself.
The 27-year-old running back was a gametime decision last month against Arizona after straining his calf late in the week but fought hard to play against the Cardinals.
His 13 carries for 55 yards and two touchdowns factored heavily into the Packers' 27-23 comeback win. While Green Bay's coaches and trainers will do what's necessary to protect the player from himself, they also know Jacobs will do whatever it takes to be on that field come Sunday.
"Josh has a pretty intense demeanor about him," offensive coordinator Adam Stenavich said. "If he's like, 'I'm in,' I'm like, 'OK.' ... He's a guy who does everything he can to get out there for his team."
The Packers and Jacobs face an interesting conundrum, though, with two games against NFC North foes over the next week – Sunday's tilt with Minnesota and a Thanksgiving road trip to Detroit next Thursday.
Jacobs will let the rest of the week play out before determining his availability for the Vikings game but adds: "If I don't play this week, (then) Thursday I'm definitely playing" as the worst-case scenario.
Those close to Jacobs also know the three-time Pro Bowler is going to do everything he can be out there Sunday.
"Josh is always putting the team before himself every single time, whether it was calf strains, whether it was hands, muscles," defensive lineman Micah Parsons said. "He's kind of always been that guy to be like, 'I'm pushing through it. I'm putting my life out here for y'all,' and letting us know how much he cares about us. That kind of shows you his mental toughness, what he brings to this team."
The Packers have two capable understudies to Jacobs in third-year veterans Emanuel Wilson and Chris Brooks. Wilson tallied 49 total yards and a touchdown in Jacobs’ absence Sunday while Brooks had a key blitz pickup on the go-ahead scoring drive.
Jacobs has confidence in both to step up against the Vikings if he can't go because at the end of the day, he wants to do what's best for the Packers and not be a hindrance to the offense.
But if Jacobs feels like he can go, he has proven time and time again that he'll be out there and playing at a high level.
"It's just me being a competitor, honestly," Jacobs said. "It's hard for me to be able to look at somebody in their eyes and quit on them – or look at them in the eyes and be like, 'Man, I didn't, I didn't give it everything I had for you.' We're in this together.
"It's not wanting to let nobody down, but it's also having the mentality to still want to be great and excel in everything you do."
