The biggest news of the day for the Green Bay Packers on Friday was the change of the status of running back Josh Jacobs.
ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported that Jacobs is going to be removed from the Commissioner’s Exempt List on Monday, which will make him eligible to play in Week 7.
Of course, Jacobs has been on the list since before the season started because of his legal issue stemming from a domestic incident with his then-girlfriend back in May.
Schefter noted that the league’s investigation into the incident is ongoing despite his removal from the list, which leaves the door open for a possible suspension.
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However, The Athletic’s Matt Schneidman reports that while Jacobs is expected to be suspended, he could get time served because of his stint on the aforementioned list.
“Josh Jacobs will come off the exempt list Monday and be eligible to practice and play next week,” Schneidman wrote. “The NFL can still suspend him and is expected to do so as the league investigation continues. If it’s six games, Jacobs will have already served that.”
With Jacobs missing six games, anything beyond that length of a suspension will force him to miss more time, but this is still a massive development for his rest-of-season outlook.
For now, attention turns to Week 7, when Jacobs could make his 2026 season debut.
A much-needed reinforcement
The Packers’ rushing attack has been abysmal this season.
The trio of MarShawn Lloyd, Chris Brooks and Kaleb Johnson has led Green Bay’s rushing attack to a putrid 60.4 rushing yards per game, the worst mark in the NFL.
Green Bay is also averaging just 3.1 yards per carry and only one team has a worse average.
With a full season with Jacobs in 2025, the Packers sported a middle-of-the-road rushing attack, ranking 15th, and safe to say Green Bay would give anything to get back to that.
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Jacobs is far more talented than anyone the Packers have at running back right now, and he can contribute as a pass-catcher, also.
What remains to be seen is how quickly Jacobs will be able to take back his typically big workload, as he may need time to ramp up, which could take a week or more.
Regardless, we’d expect Jacobs to make his debut in Week 7, when the Packers meet the Detroit Lions for a crucial NFC North showdown.
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