GREEN BAY — Josh Jacobs scoffed at the idea. He scoffed again at the alternative.

The Green Bay Packers workhorse running back is dealing with a painful bone bruise and quadriceps contusion in his left knee, an injury he sustained on the rock-hard turf of MetLife Stadium in the Packers’ win over the New York Giants last month.

He sat out the teams’ Nov. 23 win over the Minnesota Vikings to give the knee some time to heal, and while he returned to action in a Thanksgiving win at Detroit — he carried 17 times for 83 yards, including a 29-yarder that is his longest of the season — he also got hit squarely on the knee by Lions safety Brian Branch, further aggravating the issue.

And so, it was suggested to Jacobs at midweek as the Packers (8-3-1) prepped for their NFC North showdown with the division-leading Chicago Bears (9-3) at Lambeau Field on Sunday, perhaps he should sit out practices during the week to reduce the wear and tear on his knee.

“No,” Jacobs said.

OK, fine. What about altering his running style slightly, going out of bounds and avoiding the hits that come with never giving up on a play and always being willing to run through a would-be tackler?

“No,” Jacobs said again.

Jacobs’ reasoning is simple: To be the back that he is — physical, unafraid of contact, more likely to deliver a hit than absorb one — he needs to practice. And to be successful, he needs to play the style that makes him who he is.

Which leaves Jacobs … where, exactly?

“[The injury] is just in one of them places, it’s inevitable. It’s going to happen either way. You put padding on, it’s not going to really make it make a difference,” Jacobs said. “So, 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 shape possible when it’s when it’s time to actually go.

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

Jacobs has been fighting an uphill all season long, dealing with a myriad of injuries, defenses hell-bent on stopping him and daring the Packers to beat them through the air, and a makeshift offensive line that was in constant flux.

Although the line has seemingly settled in of late — with Sean Rhyan taking over at center for an out-for-the-year Elgton Jenkins, rookie second-round pick Anthony Belton becoming the starting right guard and veteran Aaron Banks finding his footing at left guard after injuries nagged him throughout training camp and the first half of the season — the unit did so just in time for Jacobs to be dealing with the most painful injury he’s had to date.

That Jacobs acquiesced and sat out the Minnesota game — the first game he’s missed as a Packer and only the 11th of a possible 108 he’s missed in his career — just goes to show how bothersome the injury is.

“Josh is always put the team before himself every single time,” Packers star edge rusher 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,’ [to] let us know how much he cares about us. That shows you his mental toughness, what he brings to this team, what he brings to the game, and you see it in his play style. His play style is aggressive as hell.

“That’s kind of the guy he is, and I couldn’t be more happy to be his teammate.”

Jacobs enters the matchup with the Bears having carried 186 times for 731 yards (a 3.9-yard average) and 11 touchdowns, putting him on pace for his fifth 1,000-yard season with five games to play.

But he’s well behind last year’s 1,329-yard season, when he averaged a half-yard more per attempt (4.4) and played a whopping 678 offensive snaps (62.55%). This year, he’s played 439 snaps (57.61%), thanks to the game he missed and leaving the Giants game after just 12 plays.

And while Jacobs acknowledged that the Packers coaches broached the idea of having him practice less, he dismissed the idea out of hand. Having never won a playoff game in his career — and having only played in two — Jacobs is focused on the big picture, and intends to simply play through the pain the rest of the way.

“I don’t want to say I feel extremely fresher [because of missing the Minnesota game],” Jacobs said. “I mean, 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. It’s still there. But it’s a part of it.

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

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