The Green Bay Packers have remained fairly healthy on offense at the league starts to head into the mid portion of training camp.
However, that changed on August 6 when Josh Jacobs was seen not in pads, and was subsequently announced as a Did Not Practice (DNP) for practice. Instead, Jacobs was working with a rehab trainer, per Aaron Nagler.
Subsequently, the issue was identified as a groin injury by The Athletic’s Matt Schneidman. And perhaps most reassuringly, Schneidman noted that whilst the problem had kept him out of practice on Thursday, it was nothing to worry about at this point in time.
“Josh Jacobs (groin) is a new DNP. Not believed to be anything concerning.” Schneidman reported.
Josh Jacobs’ Injury not Considered to be “Anything Serious”
Jacobs has been fairly durable over the course of his career – for a running back – especially since coming to Green Bay in 2024. Jacobs has only missed one game due to injury; a knee contusion in Week 12; over the past two seasons.
Yet that knee issue continued to burden him for the rest of the season as his play saw a sharp decline from his Pro Bowl season the previous year.
Heading into this offseason, it seems like Jacobs had more or less a clean bill of health prior to this groin injury, but if the reports are to be believed, this is indeed not something that will continue to be an issue for the remainder of training camp.
Are the Packers Sufficiently Deep at Running Back?
The short answer is maybe not.
Green Bay decided to let primary backup Emmanuel Wilson fly out west to sign with the Seahawks in declining his RFA tender that would have cost the team $3.5 million. Indeed, they did not even appear to want to top the much lower offer that Seattle made of $2.1 million – the amount Wilson ultimately signed for.
In his stead, it is anticipated that MarShawn Lloyd will fill Wilson’s shoes as RB2, with Chris Brooks – who the team signed to a two-year, $4.85 million deal this offseason – continuing on as the third down back.
The biggest problem is not only depth; at this moment there are no faces deeper on in the position group that could look to be a viable 53-man roster candidate; but also injury risk. Beyond Jacobs’ groin injury, Lloyd has carried the ball just 6 times over the course of his first two seasons in the league due to persisting injuries.
Although Lloyd contends that he has sorted out his seemingly never-ending ailments, there will no doubt still be wariness in the back of head coach Matt LaFleur’s mind until Lloyd manages to complete a full season (relatively) unscathed.
In the meantime, perhaps further additions via trade or free agency may be a consideration, unless back-end of the training camp roster figures, like Damien Martinez or undrafted rookie Jaden Nixon can prove themselves to be active-roster ready.
Packers’ Josh Jacobs Gets Relieving Update on Injury After Not Practicing