HENDERSON, Nev. -- What's next for Josh Jacobs? How the Las Vegas Raiders will use the running back now that he has returned to the team after sitting out the entire offseason program, training camp and the exhibition season depends on the shape he’s in.
On one hand, Jacobs has not taken a hit since Jan. 7, when he rushed for 45 yards on 17 carries in the Raiders' season-ending loss to the Kansas City Chiefs.
On the other, is there enough practice time available to get him ready for the season opener in less than two weeks at the Denver Broncos on Sept. 10?
“It’s going to be hard for me to say that until I have an opportunity to see him,” Raiders coach Josh McDaniels said after his team's preseason finale at the Dallas Cowboys on Saturday. “Obviously, his conditioning and just the way his body feels will play a role in that, too. The goal will be to get him in and get going and we’ll do the right thing -- whatever the right thing is.
“If there needs to be a [set] number of plays early in the season, then that’s it. If there’s not, then there’s not. I don’t think any of us will know the answer to that yet.”
Let's get to work 😤#RaiderNation | @iAM_JoshJacobs pic.twitter.com/4828mFlnwG
— Las Vegas Raiders (@Raiders) August 27, 2023
It’s that fine line between rest and rust.
Because as Raiders general manager Dave Ziegler said on the team’s television broadcast during the exhibition at Dallas, two weeks gives both team and player time to “ramp things up” to be ready for the Broncos.
In Jacobs' absence, second-year back Zamir White got the bulk of the first-team reps and carries, finishing the preseason with 86 yards and a touchdown while averaging 3.3 yards per carry. This after he had 70 rushing yards on 17 carries as a rookie.
Las Vegas also added Damien Williams in training camp, and the eight-year veteran responded with 54 rushing yards on six carries with a 24-yard TD in the exhibition finale at Dallas, perhaps giving the Raiders staff something else to think about as cut-down day looms for a running back room that also includes vets Ameer Abdullah and Brandon Bolden as well as youngsters Sincere McCormick, Brittain Brown and Darwin Thompson.
Jacobs has not made a public statement -- outside of tweeting "I'm back" -- since signing a readjusted franchise tag that could pay him up to $12 million with per-game bonuses this season. The initial tag was worth $10.091 million, but having not been able to secure a long-term deal with Las Vegas he did not sign it by the July 17 deadline and stayed away from the team.
The Raiders do not practice or have media availability for players again until Wednesday.
Jacobs, a 2019 first-round pick, responded to not having his fifth-year option picked up by McDaniels and Ziegler last April with a career season.
He led the NFL in rushing yards (1,653), yards from scrimmage (2,053) and touches (393) and also had the league’s longest run of the season, the 86-yard walk-off score at the Seattle Seahawks on Nov. 27. Jacobs, the first Raiders player to lead the league in rushing since Hall of Famer Marcus Allen in 1985, also tied a career high with 12 rushing touchdowns. His 400 receiving yards on 53 catches were also the most in his career.
McDaniels has acknowledged that Jacobs’ productivity last season was a surprise as he was used to employing a running back-by-committee approach. And earlier this offseason, McDaniels said he did not envision a different scenario if/when Jacobs returned.
The tight window to the season opener, tough, will have an effect.
It had one on Le’Veon Bell in 2017, when the former Pittsburgh Steelers running back did not sign his franchise tender until six days before the season opener. Despite proclaiming he was ready for as many as 30 carries a game upon reporting, his productivity dipped early. Bell’s touches (21.67) and scrimmage yards (78.67) the first three weeks of the season were down considerably when compared to the rest of that season (28.42 touches and 142.50 scrimmage yards per game in Weeks 4 through 17), including season lows in touches (13) and scrimmage yards (47) in Week 1.
Bell ended up leading the league in rushing attempts (321) and touches (406) that season and ran for 1,291 yards and a career-high nine TDs. But he sat out the next season in a contract dispute and was never the same. Bell last played in the NFL in 2021 and has said he regretted sitting out a season.
As for Jacobs, who reported to the facility Sunday, everything depends on his condition and how his body responds.
“I mean, I didn't see him in like shorts and a T-shirt or a uniform or anything like that, but he looked great, you know what I mean?” McDaniels said with a laugh on a Zoom call with reporters Sunday morning. “So like I said, we'll kind of see where all that's at and just make the smart decisions going forward. We’ve got a long season ahead of us but he's the kind of guy that, he works extremely hard all the time to put himself in a great position to help our team. So, we'll be eager to see that.
“But again, we're not going to do anything unnecessary. If [he’s] not quite ready to do a 60-play load, then we'll make the smart decisions. But if I know him, he'll want to be ready to roll and the plan will be to go forward as his body and the feedback we're getting from the medical people and the strength and conditioning staff as they see fit. Just excited to see him. He looked great. He had a big smile on his face.”