The Packers are talking like Josh Jacobs will be back, but they still have to build a plan as if he’s nowhere near the field.
That was the tension hanging over Green Bay on Tuesday, when Brian Gutekunst and Matt LaFleur spoke publicly for the first time since the NFL put Jacobs on the Commissioner’s Exempt List. The team backed Jacobs while the criminal process moves forward after his alleged May altercation with a woman, but that support does not change the reality the Packers are dealing with right now: they may have to open the season without him.
Gutekunst made clear he believes Jacobs will play this year.
“I’m certainly hopeful that he will [play this season],” Gutekunst said Tuesday.
“I certainly would expect that. But we're going to let this process play out, and we're going to be prepared either way.”
The problem for Green Bay is that the process may not move quickly. Recent history suggests a player on the Exempt List can remain there for at least a month, and Jacobs’ next court date is not until November. That means there is no obvious judicial checkpoint that would force the issue sooner.
So even with the Packers’ public confidence, they have to prepare for a stretch without their expected backfield centerpiece.
That becomes even more important after the trade for former third-round pick Kaleb Johnson. On paper, that still leaves Green Bay thin: a running back with 10 total NFL snaps, a blocking back, and Johnson, who now carries the label of a “former high pick” - the kind of tag that usually says more about disappointment than upside.
Gutekunst had already been asked earlier this offseason whether the Packers needed to add help at running back after Jacobs’ initial arrest. At the time, he said he liked the room. He repeated that stance last week, while also saying the team was ready to make moves if necessary.
Now they have.
The question is whether that depth is enough to get them through the start of the season while they wait on Jacobs and the league’s next move.
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