The Green Bay Packers‘ star running back, Josh Jacobs, returned to action in Week 13 against the Detroit Lions on Thanksgiving, where he rushed 17 times for 83 yards, after being forced to miss Week 12’s bout against the Minnesota Vikings with a knee injury sustained at the New York Giants‘ notoriously insipid MetLife Stadium.
And in his first game back, Jacobs was hit low by Lions defensive back, Brian Branch, in and around the knee level.
Many expected Jacobs to be annoyed or even outraged at this attempt, given the potential it had to cause further damage to the former All-Pro’s already tentative knee status. But instead, he simply gave Branch a warning, whilst also admitting that the Pro Bowler’s hit was not meant in a “malicious” way.
Josh Jacobs Not Upset With Brian Branch After Low Tackle
“I even talked to Branch about the hit.” Jacobs said to the media, via Ryan Wood on X. “Obviously I don’t think it was malicious or anything like that. I just told him, ‘Man youâve got to be smart on how you go about things, because this is a very physical game and you want to capitalize, maximize really as long as you can play’.
I’m just trying to tell him protect yourself but at the same time be smart. It was one of those things were there was really nowhere else for me to go, he went low and it was going to be what it was. It’s just football, sometimes plays like to happen.”
Low tackles are never fun to deal with, especially for a position that gets hit as often and as hard as running backs do on many, many plays over the course of just a single game. But considering he was just coming off that knee injury and was actually questionable to play on Thanksgiving, it certainly was not ideal.
Josh Jacobs Optimistic Despite Some Lingering Concerns From Knee Injury
Jacobs will play on Sunday afternoon against the Chicago Bears – a key game that will see the Packers return to the top of the division with a win.
There are still some issues remaining; the former Raider only participated in practice in a limited capacity earlier in the week before being a full participant on Friday.
But in his own words, things seem to be trending in the right direction as Green Bay looks to attempt to put together a deep playoff run this winter.
“I donât want to say I feel extremely fresher,â Jacobs said about how he felt after last Thursday’s game. âYou know, this game, itâs so physical, and then when you had a type of injury I did and getting hit by multiple people all the time, itâs going to still kind of be there. Just a thing that comes with it. Itâs really just about kind of balancing it out, and still trying to be effective, really.â
And, with regards his injury, things look like they are progressing.
âItâs kind of the same, honestly. It feels good, donât get me wrong. I can run a lot better than I could that week. But Iâm not going to say itâs gone.â
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