Josh Jacobs still trying to 'knock the rust off' after sitting out preseason

Las Vegas Raiders running back Josh Jacobs was one of the star running backs that went through an ugly contract negotiation this offseason. It resulted in him sitting out the entirety of training camp and the preseason until the two sides were able to reach an agreement on a one-year deal.

When Jacobs returned to the field on Sunday in the Raiders' win over the Denver Broncos, that lack of preseason work was fairly obvious. He struggled through one of the worst individual performances of his career, managing just 48 yards on 19 carries while catching two passes for 23 yards. 

Jacobs said this week that he felt like he was close to breaking a couple of big runs, but that he is still in the process of knocking off some rust from sitting out so much time, via ESPN.

“We had a lot of runs that was really close [to breaking]. It’s just the small details. Not only that, man, I’ve got to knock the rust off, too. It was a few plays where I felt like I tripped up a little bit. Plays that I knew I could have made or reads that I was kind of a little late on. It’s going to come with me, man, working at practice and trying to get that back with not being here in the offseason.”

Jacobs was one of the most productive running backs in the NFL a year ago, leading the league with 393 total touches, 2,053 yards from scrimmage and 1,653 yards rushing. That performance came in a contract year and resulted in the Raiders placing the franchise tag on him to prevent him from hitting the open market.

He was one of three running backs (joining New York Giants superstar Saquon Barkley and Dallas Cowboys running back Tony Pollard) that were tagged and not able to reach a long-term contract extension with their team.

Instead of playing on the $10.1 million franchise tag, Jacobs and the Raiders eventually agreed to a one-year deal that could be worth as much as $12 million.

He will be an unrestricted free agent again after this season. 

Jacobs has been a very good back for the Raiders since joining the team as a first-round pick in the 2019 NFL Draft, but he never played at a level that compared to what he did a year ago. Even if he does not reach that level again, he should continue to be one of the most complete backs in the league. But after missing all of training camp, offseason activities and the preseason it is understandable that it could take him a couple of weeks to get back up to speed. Some early season struggles should be expected. 

Jacobs and the Raiders look to improve to 2-0 on Sunday when they travel to play the Buffalo Bills.