GREEN BAY, Wis. – After the first of two touchdowns against the Panthers on Thursday night, Green Bay Packers running back reacted with what seemed like a provocative celebration in which his hands were behind his back.
The Amazon Prime Video cameras didn’t show the “whole celebration,” Jacobs said after the game.
“Sh**, it was f***ing 1 second that they just showed me,” Jacobs said after a 27-19 victory in his second game back with the team after spending six weeks on the exempt list for an incident with a woman.
“But, anyways, me and Savion (Williams) came up with a celebration – if they would’ve seen the whole celebration. Basically, last week, we said the first celebration when I score, I was going to thank God; that’s what I did last week. The second one was going to be “Break Every Chain.” It’s a gospel song, that was going to be the next celebration. It’s just a correlation, but like I said, the media [is] going to run with it. They’re going to make it something that it wasn’t, but it is what it is.”
The cameras only showed Jacobs with his hands behind his back as if he’d just been handcuffed.
“That wasn’t the whole celebration. It was more to it than that,” Jacobs said. “They stopped showing the celebration after that. So, like I said, it is what it is.”
Jacobs has not saved the running game. It was the worst in the league without him and it’s been the worst in the league with him.
Against a Carolina defense that entered Week 8 ranked last in the NFL in rushing yards allowed per game and per carry, Green Bay’s abysmal running game managed just 66 yards on 26 carries – a feeble 2.5-yard average.
Williams had a game-high 18-yard run. Otherwise, Jacobs mustered just 39 yards on 21 carries – a woeful 1.9-yard average – with a long run of 6.
“I felt pretty good with what I could do,” Jacobs said. “I tried to make the plays when they was there. It wasn’t a lot out there, but I tried to make the plays when they was there.”
He made a couple of key plays. On third-and-goal at the 1 midway through the second quarter, he used a jump cut to get him into space for an easy touchdown run that put the Packers ahead to stay at 13-10.
Then, midway through the third quarter, the Packers faced a third-and-1 at the 4. Jacobs was wide open for an easy touchdown catch from Jordan Love.
Those touchdowns were part of the Packers going a season-best 3-of-3 in the red zone.
“Just the dynamic player that he is in the pass game and the run game, it’s amazing to have him back out there,” Love said. “It’s two games in for him – he missed a lot of games – so he’s going to keep getting rolling.
“We talk about it, you look at the stats, our run game isn’t where it needs to be, but he had two touchdowns tonight. Just looking at that, that’s what he’s capable of and that’s what he helps bring to the offense. We’ll keep leaning on him, keep finding ways to get him the rock, but he’s a dynamic player. He does it in the pass and the run game. So, it’s great to have him back.”
The hope is Jacobs will get better as he gets into a groove and the line will get better once it gels. It’s possible the guard combo the Packers rolled out on Thursday for the first time, with Aaron Banks back in the lineup at left guard and Laken Tomlinson flipping to right guard, will have some staying power to help get things cranked up.
“It’s a lot of turnover,” Jacobs said. “Obviously, we got a lot of injuries in that (OL) room, so it’s a lot of guys trying to get a feel for each other. But I just try to make the plays when they’re there and then, when they’re not there, still try to create and get the most out of every play.
“But definitely when they’re there, I just try to make the play and it’s just something I feel like as a unit we got to be better at, just more intentional with, straining a little longer, me running a little harder. All those things correlate.”
For Jacobs, it was his first home game since the incident over Memorial Day, which wrapped up legally with him pleading no contest to misdemeanor battery and criminal damage to property. Officially, the league says the investigation is ongoing, though the reality is the league shut it down weeks ago other than waiting to see if it will get access to video of the incident.
While there are fans who no longer want Jacobs on the roster, the reaction during introductions was mostly positive.
“It was good, man. I think it was good,” Jacobs said. “I think it was good for the team. It was good to be out there – Thursday night, electric, stadium packed. As an offense, we had our little lull moments but the defense held it down in this game.”
Asked what it meant personally, Jacobs mostly focused on the Packers winning the game and improving to 5-3.
“Oh, yeah, definitely a lot, man,” he said. “Being able to go out there and make some plays, still a lot to clean up, still a lot to work on, but it’s still positive. We’ll never apologize for winning.”
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