GREEN BAY — Josh Jacobs wants to play. Josh Jacobs always wants to play. 

And based on the limited work he put in during Friday’s final practice of the week, the Green Bay Packers running back — and his sore-and-swollen right knee — have a decent chance of playing in Sunday’s game against the Denver Broncos.

“Just talking to him, it sounds like he’s feeling pretty good,” Packers head coach Matt LaFleur said. “We’ll see how he responds to the practice.”

Jacobs, who suffered a bone bruise in his knee during the team’s Nov. 16 win over the New York Giants at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J., and has been dealing with the injury ever since is officially listed as questionable for Sunday’s matchup between the NFC North-leading Packers (9-3-1) and the AFC West-leading Broncos (11-2).

Despite a rematch with the archrival Chicago Bears looming next Saturday, LaFleur made it clear that the team was not considering sitting Jacobs against the Broncos simply to give him a better chance of facing the Bears.

“I think right now, where we’re at, we’re not looking any further than the game in front of our face,” LaFleur said. “That’s where we’ll continue to keep the focus — on this game.”

The Packers approach this week is proof of that.

The team took a different approach leading into its Nov. 23 win over the Minnesota Vikings, when Jacobs participated on a limited basis in the Thursday and Friday practices, then worked out before the game for the team’s medical and coaching staffs before being deactivated for the Packers’ 23-6 win.

This time around, Jacobs rested on Wednesday and Thursday — even though he’d insisted a week earlier that he would not miss any practices — with the hope that the time off would allow the swelling and pain the subside.

Jacobs had an MRI earlier in the week that confirmed that there is still no structural damage to the patellar tendon or any of his knee ligaments. Swelling and fluid are still an issue, and he believes he can play through those — if the medical staff lets him.

“I always plan to play. They’ve got to tell me I can’t play for me not to play,” Jacobs said. So for me, that’s where my head is at, but I’m also realistically just day-to-day right now.”

Asked how the team got him to sit out practice on Wednesday and Thursday after he’d insisted a week earlier that he felt he needed to practice in order to play, Jacobs replied, “Yeah, I mean, Doc {team physician Dr. Michael Ryan) was like, ‘Man, just chill.’ But also, it’s just me being smart, too, because technically, I can go out there and practice, but I don’t want to go out there and then make it even more swollen and then game day, it’s harder to actually play. So it’s just being smart.”

With four games remaining, Jacobs has carried 206 times for 817 yards (4.0-yard average) and 12 touchdowns, including rushing for 86 yards and a touchdown on 20 carries in last Sunday’s win over the Bears.

His escape-artist 21-yard run on third-and-2 late in the fourth quarter—with his knee already swollen and painful at that point in the game — not only set up his 2-yard go-ahead touchdown run that broke a 21-21 tie, it also left LaFleur speechless at how Jacobs managed to turn what should have been a lost-yardage play into a game-saving one.

“I still don’t know how he did it There were, like, four guys at the point of attack,” LaFleur said after re-watching the play on film. “I think it just speaks to the kind of competitor Josh Jacobs is, his ability to just will himself, just like no different than the touchdown run. That’s why he is who he is.

“I mean, he’s a great one — and we’re lucky to have him. I love his mindset and just how he goes out there and competes and fights for every yard.”

Those yards have been harder to come by this year with injuries (Jacobs also battled an early-season calf issue), an inconsistent offensive line (although the unit seems to have found some continuity with the current group) and defenses geared to stop him, Jacobs has yet to post a 100-yard game this year.

But over his past three games, including his injury-shortened game against the Giants, Jacobs has carried 44 times for 209 yards (a 4.8-yard average) despite the pain in his knee.

“The 100-yard number, that’s what a lot of people talk about,” offensive coordinator Adam Stenavich said. “But he’s just been very consistent as the year has gone on. And [if] you look at just the situational football with him when you get into the red zone or short-yardage things like that, he comes through and just makes plays.

“His toughness and his willingness to be out there and fight for his teammates and just do whatever it takes … he wants the ball in those crunch time situations, and he comes through.”

Jacobs will have to wait until Sunday to learn if he’ll have another chance to come through, though.

“I really don’t know what they want to do, what they’re going to do or what they’re going to decide,” Jacobs said. “But I know right now for me in my head, I always want to play.”

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