Paul Bretl | 11/26/2024
GREEN BAY, Wis. — The Packers leaned heavily on Josh Jacobs in Sunday’s win over the 49ers with him carrying the ball 26 times. Now, with a quick turnaround and a Thursday night matchup with Miami, Green Bay may have to rely more on Emanuel Wilson and Chris Brooks this week in an effort to be mindful of Jacobs’ workload.
“Luckily for us, we do have confidence in those other two backs,” said Matt LaFleur after Sunday’s win. “I thought Emanuel Wilson ran really good. Brooks has given us some good carries as well. So yeah, we may have to lean on those guys a little bit more next game in a couple days here. But that’s one guy that I don’t worry about is Josh Jacobs. That guy is an animal. He is a dog and a dog competitor. He definitely relishes those opportunities.”
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Since Wilson arrived in Green Bay last summer as an undrafted rookie, he’s showcased his burst and ability with the ball in his hands. Despite only getting maybe a handful of carries each week, more often than not, Wilson generates a chunk run on the play.
Through 12 weeks this season and 66 carries, Wilson is averaging 4.7 yards per rush–which ranks 14th among all running backs–totaling 19 missed tackles forced, along with 12 rushes of at least 10 yards. Wilson’s ability to make defenders miss and routinely generate positive plays begins with his acceleration and being able to start and stop on a dime.
“He’s got really, really good feet and acceleration,” said running backs coach Ben Sirmans. “And when I say that, like his cutting ability, he can stop and start at full speed, and I think what happens with that, is when defenders are, whether they’re coming at him or he’s got to read a block, is when they’re ready to change direction as he’s changing direction, he’s already by them. So I think that’s a facet of his skill set that kind of has allowed him to have those explosive runs.”
Wilson has also steadily improved in pass protection and in the passing game in general, helping him earn more playing time, but filling that do-it-all role for the Packers at running back has been Brooks.
Snap count-wise, Brooks has often been the second running back on the depth chart in recent weeks, handling a variety of responsibilities. The Packers have gotten him some touches, both as a ball carrier and in the passing game, and moved him around the formation, lining up in-line, as a fullback, and even out wide.
However, the part of Brooks’ game where he continues to stand out is in pass protection, especially with picking up blitzers, and it’s that ability that has played a pivotal factor in his role increasing as the year has gone on. While PFF’s grading system isn’t the be-all-end-all, Brooks ranks second among all running backs in pass-blocking grade this season.
“He’s had really good training when he was down in Miami,” said Sirmans of Brooks ability in pass protection. “So I think that part of it has been good. He came in already with a general knowledge of how our protection works.
“I think the No. 1 thing that a guy has to have is just that tenacity that this man, this guy is not getting to the quarterback. Even if his technique and fundamentals break down. But that’s rule No. 1. If you got that mindset that’s going to go a long way in picking up protection.”
Coming to Green Bay on Thursday will be the Dolphins, who against the run, are allowing 4.3 yards per rush this season, ranking 16th in that category, and are 24th in ESPN’s run-stop rate metric.
Ultimately the matchup and game flow will dictate the run-pass mix that the Packers strike in a given game. But as we saw this past Sunday, the run game can be a catalyst for the rest of the offense, opening up the playbook when in those manageable down and distances to keep defenses off-balanced, along with playing a key factor in Green Bay’s third down and red zone success.
“That opens up just a lot of things that we can get to,” said Tucker Kraft of Jacobs and the run game. “We can get to play pass, and we got shots off the runs that we have. So just opens the playbook up even more. And we don’t even have to get to those plays. We just still rely on our backs.”
All of that said, Jacobs is, of course, going to be a factor in this game. The question at hand, however, is what his workload will look like–will it be a game with closer to 15 carries or will the Packers lean on him again?
For Jacobs, he’s doing everything he can in these few days to put himself as close to 100 percent as possible so that if his number is called often, he’s ready to go, and that preparation started immediately following Green Bay’s win over San Francisco.
“Recovery, man,” said Jacobs about playing on a short week. “That’s the thing that I had to learn, I feel like my second, third year in the league is how to take care of my body and how to go about things like that. I mean I’m about to be in here for like another hour and a half before I actually even go home, just trying to get my body right and trying to be as close to 100 (percent) as possible come Thursday.”