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Green Bay Packers running back Josh Jacobs (8) runs the ball against the Detroit Lions. Lon Horwedel-Imagn Images

Josh Jacobs ‘Ducking No Smoke’ After Latest Injury

Originally posted on Green Bay Packers on SI
By Bill Huber | Last updated Dec 5, 2025 3:00 PM ET

Green Bay Packers running back Josh Jacobs said he is feeling “pretty good” following a tackle by Detroit Lions safety Brian Branch that annoyed Jacobs last week.

“I even talked to Branch about the hit,” Jacobs said on Thursday about the play shown below, which happened with about 5:30 remaining in the third quarter and sent Jacobs briefly into the blue medical tent.

“Obviously, I don’t think it was malicious or anything like that. But I’ll just tell them, ‘Man, you got to be smart how you go about things, because this is a very physical game and you want to capitalize, maximize really how long you can play.’

“I’m just trying to tell him, ‘Protect yourself but, at the same time, but be smart.’ And it’s one of those things where there was really nowhere else for me to go. He went low, and it was going to be what it was. So, it’s just football. Sometimes, plays like that happen.”

Jacobs missed about 3 minutes of the drive, which Jordan Love punctuated with a touchdown pass to Dontayvion Wicks, so trainers could tend to the bleeding.

Branch, in a huge loss for the Lions and their playoff hopes, sustained a torn Achilles in the win over Dallas on Thursday night.

It was a triumphant return to the lineup for Jacobs, who suffered a knee injury during the victory at the Giants and was inactive the following week for the victory over the Vikings.

Jacobs carried 17 times for 83 yards against the Lions. It was one of his best days of the season, with a 4.9-yard average highlighted by a 29-yard run – his first 20-plus-yard run of the season.

“I don’t want to say I feel extremely fresher,” Jacobs said. “You know, this game, it’s so physical, and then when you had a type of injury I did and getting hit by multiple people all the time, it’s going to still kind of be there. Just a thing that comes with it. It’s really just about kind of balancing it out, and still trying to be effective, really.”

Jacobs practiced all week, and there’s little reason to believe he won’t be in the starting lineup on Sunday against the Chicago Bears.

“It’s kind of the same, honestly,” Jacobs said of the knee. “It feels good, don’t get me wrong. I can run a lot better than I could that week. But I’m not going to say it’s gone.”

To help Jacobs through the knee injury, he said not practicing has “definitely” been discussed, but that’s not the Pro Bowler’s style. He’s a more-snaps-the-better player, whether it’s at practice or in a game.

David Reginek-Imagn Images

“I’m one of the people, like, I like to feel it,” he said. “I’ve got to know what I’m dealing with, you know what I'm saying? Because I feel like, if I run, and even if I feel it a little bit, you kind of get used to it, you know what to expect. I don’t want to go out there and then just be like, ‘OK, damn, I feeling something’ and not really know how to handle it. So, I like to get my reps in.”

Jacobs is the driving force behind an offense that appears to be hitting its stride at just the right time. In the four-game span from Week 7 at Arizona to Week 10 against Philadelphia, Green Bay averaged 99.0 rushing yards per game and 3.92 yards per carry. The last three games – not coincidentally coinciding with the team’s three-game winning streak – it averaged 133 rushing yards per game and 4.50 rushing yards per attempt.

In his two games, Jacobs averaged 5.13 yards per carry in his abbreviated appearance against the Giants and his return against Detroit. That included his big run against the Lions.

Last season, Jacobs had seven carries of 20-plus yards and 33 of 10-plus yards. This season, he had zero of 20-plus yards and 15 of 10-plus yards.

“It felt weird, honestly,” Jacobs said of getting into the open field. “It felt weird. I kind of got into space. I’m like, ‘Oh, so what do I do?’ And it felt good. We have a couple of big runs. Really, if you would ask me at halftime, what I would have thought? I thought it would have been a lot crazier just because of the first half and how it went. But we never complain with a win and getting the yards per carry up.”

With the run blocking improving – Jacobs pointed to “guys … straining a lot harder” – and the Packers getting ready to face a defense that ranks 30th in yards allowed per carry and 28th in rushing yards allowed per carry – the team could continue building momentum at just the right time.

The games are bigger. The weather is colder. This is the time of year when teams have to run the football.

Injured or not, Jacobs will be at the forefront. He will power through the pain. He will practice hard. He will run hard. He will fight for every inch available.

“It’s just in one of them places, it’s inevitable,” he said of the knee. “It’s going to happen either way. You put padding on, it’s not going to really make it make a difference. It’s going to happen either way. It’s more so about the mentality to want to finish and really taking care of your body, to be able to be in the best conditioning or best shape possible when it’s when it’s time to actually go.

“I’m not ducking no smoke. So, we’ll see how I go.”

This article first appeared on Green Bay Packers on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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