Josh Jacobs was sick of losing, and that was one of the contributing factors in him leaving the Las Vegas Raiders this offseason.
Jacobs, a two-time Pro Bowl running back and former rushing champion, spent his first five seasons with the Raiders before ultimately choosing to sign with the Packers in free agency this past offseason. Months after leaving them, Jacobs is finally shedding light on how big of a factor losing had on his decision to leave Las Vegas.
“That went (into) me leaving,” Jacobs said on the “Green Light with Chris Long” podcast in June. “Coming from Alabama, I went to a championship every year I was there. I remember coming to the league and losing my first game, and I was mad and not talking to nobody. A vet came up to me and was like, ‘This is the NFL. You’re going to lose.’ I’m like, ‘So ya’ll cool with losing?’ It was so different.
“Then, the most frustrating thing about it all, you’ve got me, and Tae (Davante Adams) and Maxx (Crosby), you’ve got guys who come in every day and work hard, and you don’t get the results. … You’ll be close every year, but (we’re) not winning. You want me to come back on a discount and lose? I don’t know how I feel about that.”
In the unnamed veteran’s defense, playing in the NFL is not like playing for Alabama or another elite college program that wins nearly 90% of their games. Even good teams lose several games a year in the NFL. Heck, the Chiefs lost six games last year before hoisting the Lombardi Trophy for a second straight year.
That may be so, but it appears that Jacobs is alluding to the fact that too many Raiders accepted losing too easily. Sure, every NFL teams loses, but you should never get used to losing. That, at least in Jacobs’ perspective, was the case in Las Vegas and one of the reasons for the team’s shortcomings during his time there. It was also one of the reasons why he decided to leave.
Fortunately for Jacobs, he landed on a team that is used to winning. Over the past five years, the Packers have averaged 11.2 wins per year and made the playoffs four times. Last year, the team overcame a 3-6 start to advance to the divisional round following an upset win over the Cowboys in the wild-card round.
“I honestly think the sky is the limit in this offense,” Jacobs recently said of his new unit. “Obviously, with having a special guy in Jordan Love, you know, and having a good offensive line and some good receivers out there makes it a lot easier for me, but just to be able to see the game plan and things that they want me to do this year, the things that they’re allowing me to do, I just think it’s going to be a special year.”
