Getty The Josh Jacobs injury was a lowlight from a rough day for the Raiders.
Few things could be more difficult than watching your team grind its way helplessly through an ugly, 3-0 loss in Las Vegas the way the Raiders did on Sunday with their playoff hopes on life support. That’s what happened in the Week 14 loss to the Vikings. But just to make things all the more difficult, there was a Josh Jacobs injury to make it all a bit worse for Raiders Nation.
Jacobs appeared to injure his knee early in the game, and understanding how important the Week 14 matchup was to get the team’s fortunes turned around and keep alive the outside chance of the postseason, Jacobs elected to play through the pain. It didn’t go well.
Jacobs carried 13 times in the loss for just 34 yards, his worst showing since the disastrous Week 2 game in Buffalo in which he racked up minus-2 yards on the ground. He walked off the field favoring a limp in his right leg with 6:14 to go in the game and did not return.
A 3-0 score is cause for concern. A 3-0 score AND a Josh Jacobs injury is cause for panic.
Josh Jacobs is on his way to the locker room
Josh Jacobs Injury Lingered All Game
What might be most worrisome is that the Raiders apparently allowed Jacobs to play much of the game with an injured knee.
“He got nicked up early on,” coach Antonio Pierce said. “I think that just got on him. He tried to come back and he just wasn’t, he wasn’t himself. At that point, he was done with it.”
Pierce was noncommittal about the possibility of the Josh Jacobs injury keeping him out for Week 15—on Thursday Night Football against the Chargers.
“Tough guy. I think, you know, we’ll have to get with our medical staff on that. But he is trying to fight as best as he can and wasn’t able to finish, we’ll look into that tomorrow,” Pierce said.
It is not a thorough diagnosis, of course, but the website Sports Injury Central did give an initial outlook for Josh Jacobs, which is concerning in that he sounds unlikely to play on Thursday. The site notes that it is likely the Jacobs suffered ligament damage in the game.
“By video, right knee hyperextension on carry in the 4th quarter – likely has ligament damage but not out long-term – definitely out Thursday against the Chargers – Zamir White likely to get the lead back action with Josh Jacobs out,” the site noted.
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Right knee injury analysis
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Raiders Cling to Very Slim Playoff Hopes
That’s good new on the Josh Jacobs injury in the long-term but as things stand, according to the New York Times’ NFL playoff tracker, the Raiders currently have a 1% chance of making the playoffs. A win over the Chargers is critical to keeping alive even those very thin hopes.
It would be hard enough for the Raiders, who have lost three in a row, to beat the Chargers at all, but it would be especially hard if there is no Jacobs on the field. He is currently at 805 yards rushing, which is fifth in the NFL. He was the league’s leader in rushing yards last season, with 1,653 in total.
Pierce acknowledged that the Raiders badly need contributions from Jacobs earlier this season. The aim, he said, it get 20 carries per game for Jacobs.
“Our magic number is 20-plus,” he said. “We gotta stay with it. It’s not always pretty, there are some one-yards and two-yards in there. Yesterday, there were some fives and eight and nines, and we just gotta remember that as we’re calling it, and stick with it.”