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Josh Jacobs has had a resurgence over the last two weeks for the Las Vegas Raiders. After not getting more than 77 rushing yards in the first eight games, he has 214 rushing yards combined in the last two games.
Jacobs has been running a lot angrier and a Raiders legend may deserve some credit. Jacobs revealed that he’s been talking to former running back Bo Jackson, who had a strong message for him ahead of the Week 10 game against the New York Jets.
“He told me, ‘Man, when you run a mother****** over, you pick ’em up and you say, All right, I’m (gonna) come back 40 seconds later,’” Jacobs said during his November 12 postgame media availability. “I tried to have that mentality today.”
Jacobs had his best game of the season against the Jets with 116 rushing yards, which was the first time he eclipsed 100 rushing yards in a game all year. He has been able to work his way up the leaderboard and is now third in the NFL with 622 rushing yards. He still has a chance to retain his rushing title from last season.
Antonio Pierce Talks Josh Jacobs
Since taking over for Josh McDaniels as interim head coach, Antonio Pierce has put an emphasis on the run. Josh Jacobs has stepped up with the added workload, which has impressed the coach.
Pierce had a lot of praise for the running back following the win over the Jets.
“In the second half, you saw what time it was, right? It was Josh Jacobs Time,” Pierce said during his November 13 press conference. “It was Hammer Time. And you saw the energy, not only with our offensive line, our running back in our offense, but our team. It changed our whole mentality in that third quarter, and I think that’s where things started shifting our favor.”
Jacobs has clearly bought into what Pierce is selling and even admitted that the coaching change has made him rethink his future with the team. He can be a free agent after the season and it’s difficult to imagine him leaving if the team keeps playing well.
Josh Jacobs Credits Defense for Saving Him
While Josh Jacobs was a big reason why the Raiders won, he was also almost the reason they lost. With the team driving late in the fourth quarter to seal the win, Jacobs lost a fumble and gave the ball back to the Jets.
Fortunately, the defense came away with a stop and the Raiders still ended up with a win. Jacobs was very appreciative of the defense bailing him out.
“I was just hoping the defense didn’t let me down,” Jacobs said, “because I ain’t want to be the reason why we lost.
“They saved me today, so I went up personally and shook all their hands after the game.”
The Raiders defense hasn’t bailed the offense out much in recent years but the group is showing a lot of improvement. They held the Giants to just six points in Week 9 and the Jets to 12 points in Week 10. Those are two of the worst offenses in the NFL so the real test will be in Week 11 against the NFL’s No. 1 offense as the team travels to Miami to face the Dolphins.
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