Green Bay Packers running back Josh Jacobs is dealing with an injury. But the Packers can overtake the Chicago Bears at the top of the NFC North standings when the teams square off in the NFL’s most-played rivalry on Sunday, so the former Alabama ball-carrier will be on the field for Green Bay.

Jacobs sustained a bone bruise to his knee and a thigh contusion on his left leg during a 27-20 victory over the New York Giants on Nov. 16. Jacobs missed a 23-6 victory over the Minnesota Vikings one week later, and he returned to the field in a 31-24 victory over the Detroit Lions on Thanksgiving.

After playing in one game in 20 days, Jacobs said he still has the injuries and is prepared to feel them on Sunday.

“It’s just in one of them places,” Jacobs said about being hit. “It’s inevitable. It’s going to happen either way. You can put padding on it, it’s not going to really 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 time to actually go. So, I mean, I’m not ducking no smoke, so we’ll see how it go.”

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Against Detroit, Jacobs took a hit on the leg from the shoulder pad of safety Brian Branch, another Alabama alumnus. The running back missed a few minutes of game time while trainers stopped bleeding.

“I even talked to Branch about the hit,” Jacobs said. “Obviously, I don’t think it was malicious or anything like that, but I just told him, ‘Man, you got to be smart how you go about things because this is a very physical game. You want to capitalize, maximize really, you know, as long as you can play.’ And I’m just trying to tell him: Protect yourself; at the same time, be smart.

“And it’s one of those things where it was really nowhere else for me to go. He went low, and, like, it kind of was going to be what it was. So this is football. Sometimes plays like that happen.”

Despite the injuries and the time off the field, Jacobs ran for 83 yards on 17 carries and had an 8-yard reception against the Lions.

“This game, it’s so physical,” Jacobs said, “and then when you have a type of injury I did and getting hit by multiple people all the time, it’s like it’s going to still kind of be there. It’s just a thing that come with it. It’s really just about kind of balancing it out and still trying to be effective really.”

Jacobs participated in practice on a limited basis on Wednesday and Thursday before returning to full participation on Friday. He said the Packers had considered holding him out of practice, but he doesn’t like that.

“I’m one of them people, like, I like to feel it,” Jacobs said. “Like, I got to know what I’m dealing with. In a sense because I feel like if I run and even if I feel it a little bit, like 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’m feeling something,’ and not really know how to handle it, so I like to get my reps in.”

After finishing last in the NFC North for the previous three seasons, the Bears hold the division lead at 9-3 in 2025, with the Packers at 8-3-1.

One of the key statistics in explaining Chicago’s turnaround is turnover margin. The Bears have 26 takeaways – 17 interceptions and nine fumble recoveries – in 2025. That’s six more than any other NFL team. Chicago has lost nine turnovers – five interceptions and four fumbles – and the Bears’ plus-17 turnover margin is the best in the NFL, with the Houston Texans, Los Angeles Rams and Tampa Bay Buccaneers tied for second at plus-9.

“They lead the NFL in turnovers of their defense,” Jacobs said. “Some’s been gimmes, then some’s been really, really great plays by their defense. So shoutouts to them for that. But I don’t plan on giving the ball away, so we’ll see how it goes.”

The Bears and Packers meet at 3:25 p.m. CST Sunday at Lambeau Field in Green Bay, Wisconsin, where the kickoff temperature is forecast at 17 degrees. FOX TV affiliates in Alabama are scheduled to televise the game.

The game will be the 211th matching the teams. Jacobs joined the rivalry last season when he signed with the Packers as a free agent.

“I think it’s bigger this year than it was last year because they actually a pretty decent team,” Jacobs said. “So I think that with them playing at a high level, obviously, having a new coach and new energy and things like that in that building that I think they have more of a belief that they actually have a chance of playing in this game. …

“So I think it’s going to be a good game. I mean, at the end of the day, still don’t like them. They don’t like us, and it’s going to be fun.”

The Packers and Bears will square off again in less than two weeks, meeting at 7:20 p.m. Dec. 20 at Soldier Field in Chicago in a Saturday game.

In between, Green Bay plays the Denver Broncos and Chicago plays the Cleveland Browns on Dec. 14.