GREEN BAY, Wis. – All Josh Jacobs needed was a change of scenery to regain his status as one of the NFL’s best running backs.

After suffering the worst season of his career last year in Las Vegas, Jacobs has bounced back strongly with the Green Bay Packers. Jacobs has regained his 2022 form as he led the NFL in rushing and earned All-Pro honors with the Raiders.

Jacobs never had any doubts that he would perform for his new team.

“I believe in myself,” Jacobs said. “I like myself in every situation. I always tell the boys that. I always try to win my games more than I try to lose them. So for me it was just about proving it to the team.”

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He has proven himself time and time again for the Packers (10-4), who host the New Orleans Saints (5-9) on Monday night.

Jacobs rushed for 1,147 yards, third in the league this week, behind Philadelphia’s Saquon Barkley and Baltimore’s Derrick Henry.

“I mean, he’s an animal out there,” Packers coach Matt LaFleur said. “Very rarely do I get the feeling that when we give him the ball he doesn’t let the first player miss.”

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His productive season follows the 2023 season in which Jacobs persevered in the preseason and then rushed for 805 yards while gaining 3.5 yards per attempt, both career lows. Jacobs then entered free agency and joined the Packers, giving him the opportunity to play for a contender.

His only playoff experience came during the 2021 season when current Packers special teams coordinator Rich Bisaccia was interim head coach of the Raiders.

“We all loved Rich,” Jacobs recalled. “We all wanted to play for Rich and win for him and win for each other. … That’s how I felt from day one. Everyone came in, everyone agreed with each other, everyone was willing to give more to each other. That’s what I compare it to. I’m ready to play playoff football right now, but I can’t wait for that day.

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Jacobs’ emergence is a big reason the Packers are on the verge of their fifth playoff berth in six years.

Green Bay took a calculated risk when it signed Jacobs and allowed fan favorite Aaron Jones to move to the Minnesota Vikings. Jones managed 5,940 yards in seven seasons with the Packers.

Jacobs, 26, is younger than Jones. The Packers also believed Jacobs would be more durable. Jacobs backed that up by playing in each of Green Bay’s first 14 games, recording 265 carries – more than three and a half times as many as any of his teammates.

He has shown a knack for rebounding defenders, which has caught the Saints’ attention.

“He almost looks like a bowling ball out there,” Saints linebacker Pete Werner said.

Jacobs rushed for 688 yards in the first half of the game, a number that led the NFL entering this week. Jacobs’ ability to impose his will early in games helped the Packers outscore their opponents 95-34 in the first quarter.

“We always talk about starting the game fast, and any time you can just give a guy the ball and let him run down the field, I think that definitely sets the pace of the game,” quarterback Jordan Love said. “The defense has to figure out how they’re going to make adjustments. Will they try to fill the penalty area to stop the run forward? A lot of things come out of it.”

The Packers are coming off a 30-13 win in Seattle, where Jacobs touched the ball on each of Green Bay’s first eight plays from scrimmage and caught two passes before running the ball six straight times. He capped that drive with a 1-yard touchdown run that gave Green Bay the lead for good.

By the end of the game, Jacobs had carried the ball 26 times and caught four passes. Running backs coach Ben Sirmans spoke with him afterward and joked that Jacobs was probably too tired to even run. Jacobs replied that he was fine, and Sirmans noted that “he had a nice bounce in his step.”

“I guess he’s almost like Wolverine,” Sirmans said. “His body is constantly regenerating and he’s ready to go.”

The Packers realize they still need to be careful to make sure they don’t tire Jacobs out before the playoffs. Jacobs indicates that won’t be a problem.

“I have no bruises right now, nothing,” Jacobs said. “I feel great. As long as I feel good, I feel like we can do what we can. If I was struggling with something right now I would probably say be careful, but I feel great.”

Jacobs said his experience taught him how to best avoid the risk of injury while remaining productive.

“One thing about playing for so long is you know certain angles and things like that. So even if I get tackled, it’s not like I’m going to get hit when I tackle it,” Jacobs said. “I fall in a certain way, I take angles where I could use their strength against them and really help myself. So for me, I was pretty clean, man. I can’t complain.”

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