Since Josh Jacobs entered the NFL as a first-round pick in the 2019 NFL Draft, only one player has more rushing yards than he has accumulated. Derrick Henry has 10,383 yards in those almost seven seasons, and Jacobs has 7,800.
For the second time during their NFL careers, Henry and Jacobs will be on opposite sidelines when the Baltimore Ravens and Green Bay Packers square off on Saturday night.
Both backs played at Alabama, but not at the same time. Henry won the Heisman Trophy for Alabama’s CFP national-championship team in the 2015 season, and Jacobs played his first season with the Crimson Tide in 2016.
Jacobs became acquainted with Henry when the older ball-carrier came back to Tuscaloosa to train early in his NFL career.
“He used to come back all the time to work out,” Jacobs said, “and, obviously, he’s like a legend there, so you hear a lot of the stories about things that he used to do like squat 500 pounds after a game and stuff like that. And he used to just come back in the summer and train with us, him and Julio (Jones). You know, Julio used to come back a lot.
“And those guys really honestly was the guys that kind of set the tone of when you see and you epitomize, like, OK, Alabama football, what is it? What does it stand for? Or what does it represent and what does it take? Those are the guys that you kind of see.
“Like, Julio was the biggest freak athlete I’ve ever seen in my life. I mean, still to this day, certain things that he used to do out there when we was training, I’m like, I don’t know how anybody could do this.
“But, yeah, that’s just my viewpoint from (Henry). And then, obviously, we talk. We don’t really talk about football too much when we talk. We just talk about life, you know, his family and things like that. And we touch on the running backs every now and then, but that’s about it.”
Henry is a five-time Pro Bowler who led the NFL in rushing yards in 2019 and 2020. Jacobs is a three-time Pro Bowler who led the NFL in rushing yards in 2022.
This season, Henry has run for 1,253 yards and 12 touchdowns on 251 carries and caught 15 passes for 150 yards and Jacobs has run for 926 yards and 13 touchdowns on 230 carries and caught 35 passes for 282 yards and one touchdown.
Jacobs said he has tried to match the Alabama NFL standard of Henry and Jones.
“The only thing that I’ll say that’s probably a knock is I haven’t been back to school,” Jacobs said. “So, like, that’s something I was like, ‘Man, I might have to go back for like a week or two just to train with these guys next offseason or something.’ But, yeah, I definitely got to get back to them a little bit.”
Henry ran for 128 yards and two touchdowns on 18 carries in Baltimore’s 28-24 loss to the New England Patriots on Sunday. Jacobs ran for 36 yards on 12 carries in Green Bay’s 22-16 overtime loss to the Chicago Bears one week ago.
Jacobs lost a fumble on a first-and-goal run from the Chicago 4-yard line with 6:57 left in the third quarter and did not carry the football again against the Bears.
“I don’t really know, to be honest,” Jacobs said about his absence. “It’s kind of just a collective decision. I got hit a few plays before that on the fourth-and-1 on the knee, so it was kind of stiffening up, so it’s a collective decision. …
“I mean, anybody that wants to play, I mean, especially once you have a play like that, you want to, obviously, make up for it or things like that. You want to play. But at the end of the day, too, it’s like we got to do what’s best for the team. And (Emanuel Wilson) was playing good at that time, too, so I weren’t too much worried about it.”
About Jacobs’ absence, Packers offensive coordinator Adam Stenavich said: “I’m never not going to want Josh Jacobs in the game ever, so if that answers your question.”
Jacobs missed Green Bay’s 23-6 victory over the Minnesota Vikings on Nov. 23 and has been playing with a knee injury.
“It’s still a lot of football left,” Jacobs said. “We still got a lot of football to play. I wasn’t even 100 percent supposed to play in the game, so it’s just like I already knew what it was going to be. You know what I’m saying? Just in general for my day, especially once I got hit on it again, so just kind of it is what it is.”
Jacobs said his knee is “a little better this week, but still hurt.” Jacobs was a limited participant in the Packers’ practices this week, but he carries no injury designation for Saturday night’s game.
“It’s unfortunate because I just keep getting hit on it,” Jacobs said. “It’s not like I’m coming out of these games clean and actually giving it, like, a little bit of time. It’s like either once or twicea game I get hit right up on the spot, and, obviously, I got it overly padded up and things like that. But football is still football.”
Earlier this week, Packers coach Matt LaFleur said he wished the team was “in a better position” to give Jacobs some time off.
LaFleur said that before Green Bay clinched a spot in the NFC playoff field, which happened on Thursday, when the Detroit Lions lost to the Vikings 23-10.
The Packers still have an opportunity to overtake the Bears for the NFC North title and the accompanying home game in the first round of the postseason. For that to happen, Green Bay must beat the Ravens and Minnesota while Chicago loses to the San Francisco 49ers and Detroit over the final two weeks of the regular season.
The Ravens and Packers kick off at 7 p.m. CST Saturday at Lambeau Field in Green Bay, Wisconsin. Peacock will televise the game.
The Packers have ruled out quarterback Jordan Love because of a concussion. The Ravens also might not have their No. 1 QB, with Lamar Jackson dealing with a back injury.
Green Bay has two other quarterbacks on its roster, backup Malik Willis and practice-squader Clayton Tune, so there’s no emergency third quarterback to be designated under the NFL’s rules in case Willis and Tune get hurt. But the Packers do have an emergency quarterback – Jacobs.
“We kind of went over it just in case,” Jacobs said, “especially when a lot of guys started getting sick around here and stuff like that. So yeah, they let me showcase some things. …
“Like I know the schemes, especially the plays that we’re going to run, even the ability to be able to do a RPO. Even the thought of that, I’m like, ‘Yeah, it would be really fun.’”
In the NFL arena, where every moment can change the game, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers gave fans an emotional performance when they defeated the Houston Texans with a thrilling score of 20-19. The match was not just a normal sports confrontation, but also a vivid picture of the bravery, strong will and fierce fighting spirit of both teams.
From the very first minutes, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the Houston Texans gave the audience an extremely tense score chase. Both teams took turns to take the lead, creating a suffocating atmosphere in the stands. Every ball, every throw, and every attack made the fans unable to take their eyes off.
The highlight of the match was the coolness and precision in the handling of the Buccaneers’ offense. The decisive passes, smooth coordination and never-give-up spirit helped Tampa Bay maintain constant pressure on the opponent. Meanwhile, their defense showed absolute solidity and concentration in the final seconds – the decisive moment to maintain the minimal victory against the Texans.
The 20-19 result not only reflected the dramatic and breathtaking match, but also proved that the Tampa Bay Buccaneers are still a formidable force in the NFL. Although this season has been full of ups and downs with many unpredictable challenges, the team still showed steadfastness and a fighting spirit that never gave up.
This victory not only helped the Buccaneers consolidate their position in the rankings, but also brought great confidence to fans that the team can go further this season. With their current form, Tampa Bay promises to continue to bring attractive, dramatic and surprising matches to the American football world.
