Josh Jacobs barbecuing Las Vegas Raiders’ opponents
Las Vegas running back Josh Jacobs carried a questionable designation for his playing status before the Raiders’ Nov. 27 game against the Seattle Seahawks because of a calf injury.
That didn’t prevent the former Alabama standout from running for 229 yards and two touchdowns on 33 carries and catching six passes for 74 yards in a 40-34 overtime victory. He set franchise single-game records for rushing yards and yards from scrimmage as he became the sixth player in NFL history with at least 300 yards and two touchdowns from scrimmage in one game.
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Carrying a questionable designation again and deemed a game-time decision before Sunday’s game against the Los Angeles Chargers, Jacobs ran for 144 yards and one touchdown on 26 carries and caught two passes for 6 yards in the Raiders’ 27-20 victory. Jacobs reached his second streak of three games with at least 150 yards from scrimmage since the start of October, and he’s the only player to have such a streak in the past three seasons.
Jacobs said wasn’t going to miss Sunday’s game.
“I was going today,” Jacobs said in the locker room after the game. “It wasn’t really a question for me today, especially – nah, I can’t.” Then he said: “Barbecued chicken,” and the reporters gathered around his locker laughed.
Before the game, Chargers wide receiver Keenan Allen had been asked what the Raiders’ high rate of man-to-man in pass coverage meant to him.
“Barbecued chicken,” Allen said. “No doubt.”
Asked to explain, Allen said: “That means they’re dead. You’re going to get to see Slayer (which is Allen’s nickname).”
The Raiders play the Los Angeles Rams on Thursday night. Jacobs is again on the injury report, this time with calf and quad injuries.
“The juice more so will be I know I’m about to get a three-day weekend,” Jacobs said about playing in the NFL’s Thursday night showcase, “and I’m going to be able to take care of my body and then feel great for the next week. I’m looking forward to it.”
After Sunday’s game, Jacobs said he would be getting ready that night to play on Thursday.
“Normally when I leave here, I go home and do treatment,” Jacobs said. “I’ve got a whole little treatment thing set up in my house, so I try to attack that early because of how many times I touch the ball and how many hits I take. I always try to stay on top of that.”
Despite his continually questionable status, Jacobs leads the NFL in touches (which are rushing attempts plus receptions) with 284 that he has turned into 1,303 rushing yards and 1,634 yards from scrimmage. Both figures also lead the NFL.
Jacobs is the fourth player in NFL history with at least 1,300 rushing yards, 10 rushing touchdowns and a 5.35-yards-per-carry average in his team’s first 12 games, joining Walter Payton in 1977, O.J. Simpson in 1973 and Jim Brown in 1958, 1963, and 1965.
Jacobs has five games with at least 140 rushing yards and one rushing touchdown in his past nine times on the field, which is more than any other player in franchise history has had in his career with the Raiders.
“He makes our job easier with the way he runs the ball,” Raiders center Andre James said on Monday. “He runs it with super big passion, so it’s nice blocking for somebody like that.”
Jacobs tries to serve as the biggest booster for the Las Vegas offensive line.
“I think they believe in me like I believe in them,” Jacobs said. “I encourage them guys all the time. I’m their biggest advocate. Even when they do bad, I tell them I believe in them. You can tell that they lay it out on the line for me. That’s a great feeling to have.”
If Jacobs produces another game with at least 150 yards from scrimmage against the Rams, it would be 25th streak in NFL history of at least four games.
The Raiders and Rams square off at 7:15 p.m. CST Thursday at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California. Prime Video will televise the game.
Los Angeles won the Super Bowl last season, but the Rams have lost their past six games to fall to 3-9 in 2022.
The Raiders have won their past three games to improve to 5-7 in this season. Las Vegas has a 5-1 record when Jacobs runs for at least 100 yards and a 0-6 record when he does not in 2022.
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Mark Inabinett is a sports reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter at @AMarkG1.
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