Green Bay Packers running back Josh Jacobs fractured his finger against the New England Patriots, according to head coach Matt LaFleur. In his post-game press conference, LaFleur stated, “Hopefully, we can do something to allow him to go out there.”
Notably, Jacobs was ruled questionable with a hand injury mid-game, but he was never officially ruled out of action. At the moment, the Packers carry four running backs on their active roster: Jacobs, MarShawn Lloyd, Pierre Strong Jr. and Kaleb Johnson.
Lloyd missed Sunday’s game with a knee injury, opening up the door for Johnson, who ended up leading the backfield in rushing yards against the Patriots.
Another factor here is that running back Chris Brooks has his practice window open. At some point, the team will need to make a decision on whether to bring Brooks up for game action or shut him down for the year. It seems highly unlikely that the Packers will ever carry more than three backs on their game-day 48-man roster this season, so there will need to be some level of trimming at the position. Jacobs’ injury coming at the same time as Brooks’ recovery makes the situation more complicated.
LaFleur was not asked about linebackers Isaiah McDuffie (undisclosed) or Ty’Ron Hopper (chest), who were also injured against the Patriots. They were the replacement starters in for Zaire Franklin (ruled out) and Edgerrin Cooper (injured reserve). Currently, the only healthy off-ball linebackers for the Packers are Nick Niemann and Kristian Welch, who had only played a combined two defensive snaps in the season prior to today’s game.
