Lions Making Telling Move With CB Jerry Jacobs: Report

Getty The Detroit Free Press' Dave Birkett reported on January 12 that the Detroit Lions have placed cornerback Jerry Jacobs on injured reserve.

After losing his starting job in Week 15, cornerback Jerry Jacobs’ future with the Detroit Lions was murky at best. Now, it does appear he won’t receive an opportunity to finish the season.

The Detroit Free Press’ Dave Birkett reported on January 11 that the Lions “informed” Jacobs that they plan to place him on injured reserve before facing the Los Angels Rams in the NFC Wild Card round.

Jacobs was limited in practice on January 10 because of a thigh/knee injury. But then he didn’t practice at all on January 11.

Fellow veteran cornerbacks Khalil Dorsey and Kindle Vildor have replaced Jacobs in the starting lineup since December 16. Over the past four games, Jacobs has been primarily served in a special teams role.

Lions’ Placing Jerry Jacobs on Injured Reserve

Detroit cornerback depth will take a hit without Jacobs for the postseason. But he has played almost entirely on special teams since losing his cornerback job to Dorsey and then Vildor.

Over the past four games, Jacobs has played 1 defensive snap. He also missed Week 16 because of a hamstring injury.

Prior to his benching, Jacobs had started 12 games for the Lions this season. He also started nine contests in 2021 and eight in 2022.

In 12 starts this season, he posted 55 combined tackles, including 2 tackles for loss, 8 pass defenses and 3 interceptions.

Without Jacobs, the Lions will likely continue to start Vildor and Cameron Sutton at cornerback. Furthermore, rookie Brian Branch has established himself as the team’s nickel cornerback.

The Lions also have Dorsey, Will Harris and Steven Gilmore available for additional depth. Jacobs was the only Lions cornerback limited at practice on January 11 because of an injury.

Detroit used Dorsey as its starting lineup to replace Jacobs in Weeks 16 and 17. He  recorded 4 combined tackles and 1 pass defense in those two games.

Vildor started the last two regular season games for Detroit. He posted 5 combined tackles, including a tackle for loss.

Jacobs Sends Good-Bye Tweet?

Also on January 11, Jacobs caused a stir on social media with a tweet he delivered.

He has since deleted the tweet, but Birkett reported that the message the cornerback sent read, “Thank you Detroit” with a blue heart emoji.

Jacobs is a restricted free agent at the end of the season. Although he will have more limited options than the typical unrestricted free agent, fans could certainly view Jacobs’ tweet as an indication that he doesn’t expect to return to Detroit.

Jacobs began his career with the Lions as an undrafted free agent in 2021. He made his first NFL start during Week 5 of that season.

However, Jacobs ended his rookie season on injured reserve after suffering a torn ACL.

That pushed his 2022 debut back until late October. But over his first two seasons, Jacobs started 17 contests for the Lions.

In 40 games over the past three seasons, Jacobs posted 131 combined tackles, including 9 tackles for loss, 23 pass defenses and 4 interceptions. He also had 3 quarterback hits, 1 sack, 1 forced fumble and 1 fumble recovery.

The Lions will host the Rams in what will be their first home playoff game in 30 years during the NFC Wild Card round. Kick off will be at 8:15 pm ET on January 14.