In last Sunday’s season-opener, Raiders’ running back Josh Jacobs was a major factor. The second-year back scored three touchdowns in the game, and put up 139 yards on offense.
This was not by chance. It was not based on the opponent. It was based on Jacobs putting in the work to not sub out of the game.
As a rookie, Jacobs was among the best runners in football. But that wasn’t enough. He wanted to be a complete back. He didn’t want the coaches to feel like they had to take him out of the game in certain situations. That meant improving his work in the passing game, both as a blocker and as a receiver.
“It’s really improved,” Derek Carr said of Jacobs’s work in the pass game. “It’s something that he and I worked on in practice after practice a lot. Even last year we did some things after practice knowing that he wasn’t the guy for those plays.
“A lot of ‘check downs’ that we throw are really designed plays for our running backs that we’ve seen Jalen for years now come out the backfield and catch for certain things. And Josh was like ‘well, I don’t want to come off the field. I gotta get better at these things. I don’t want to come off the field.’
The results showed up in the season opener on a couple of occasions.
On the Raiders’ first scoring drive, Jacobs was in the game on third and one. Carr dropped back and Jacobs laid a huge pass block to give Carr time to find Darren Waller for a seven-yard catch. The drive still alive, Jacobs was able to run for the next third down and then score the touchdown at the end of it.
Later in the game, he ran a route and, Carr stepped up in the pocket and hit him in stride over the middle. Jacobs hurdled the linebacker and went for 29 yards.
Think Josh worked on his route-running this offseason?#LVvsCAR | #BeGreat28 pic.twitter.com/fMIgUIG6wU
— Las Vegas Raiders (@Raiders) September 13, 2020
Once again, that drive ended with him punching it in for a touchdowns.
“When I play receiver, I get a lot more chances to get into open space, so that’s always more fun,” Jacobs said Wednesday over video conference call.
“I did a lot more putting myself not in the running back aspect, but as a receiver, whether it was going outside in the slot and actually learning how to get off releases and stemming the guy and learning leverage and all of them kind of things like that. And then watching Hunter on his choice routes and just how creative he is. Just find what I like and make it my own.”
The result of his improved set of skills is a career-high in snaps. Jacobs was on the field for 49 snaps Sunday, which is 78% of the snaps on offense, considerably better than any of his games as a rookie when he usually saw under 60% of the offensive snaps.
“They kind of give me free rein to sub myself in and out when I feel fit,” Jacobs added. “But when the game is on the line for me, I always want to be in the game. I always feel like I’m a game-changer, a difference-maker, regardless if I’m getting the ball or not. Just to make how the defense lines up, how the defense has to respect and honor whatever we do. But for me you can feel the momentum of the game of when a play needs to be made or if a play doesn’t get made. You can feel the intensity of it. So, for me I’d rather take my chances out there.”
Along with his work in the pass game giving him and his team an assist for his rushing, Jacobs also set career highs in catches (4) and yards (46) in the game.
With so many touches in the game, the worry could be that he will get worn out. That’s a legitimate concern, but for now Jacobs says he is feeling great.
“It’s weird because that’s one thing I thought about was how I would feel after this game, but I feel good,” Jacobs continued. “I didn’t have any nicks or anything for real. I remember last year after the game I felt like I was in a car crash. So, I feel good, my body could full go, if we could play today, I would.”
Save it for the Saints on Monday night, Josh. No doubt the Raiders will need all this game-changer has to offer.
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