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.”