Playing hurt is something Josh Jacobs has done a lot of in his career. In fact, he’s become known for playing some of his best football when he’s banged up late in the season. Which should tell you something about how injured he was against the Vikings two weeks ago.
He suffered a knee injury early in the game, fought through it for a while before eventually leaving the game and not returning. The Raiders lost the game 3-0.
When the Charger came to town four days later, Jacobs was not ready to go and was rendered inactive for the game.
Now with the team having a 11 days between that Thursday night game and their Christmas Day game at Arrowhead, head coach Antonio Pierce doesn’t see Jacobs missing this one.
“I think he was close the last week,” Pierce said of Jacobs. “That was a decision we all made in the best interest of him. For himself. If I had to be a betting man, I would think he would play this game.”
Along with Jacobs, there were two Raiders starting offensive linemen who also didn’t play last week — left tackle Kolton Miller and center Andre James.
“Same deal,” Pierce said of Miller and James. “If I was a betting man, those guys are going through the process. This is a game you want to play in now. You don’t want to be sitting at home watching it on television, you want to be there.”
Keep in mind, the Raiders have yet to practice this week, so this could just be unbridled optimism by Pierce. A combination of the long week off and this being the big annual Arrowhead matchup with a suddenly very vulnerable looking Chiefs team.