Here’s Everything Josh Jacobs Said About Incident, Return to Packers

GREEN BAY, Wis. – For the first time since the Memorial Day Weekend incident that led to missing the first six games of the season, Green Bay Packers running back Josh Jacobs talked to reporters about the arrest, punishment and return to the team he had captained the previous two seasons.

“Obviously, you never want to be in this situation, but just me being honest, for my life, it was probably one of the best things to ever happen to me,” Jacobs said outside the locker room at Lambeau Field on Wednesday afternoon.

“I say that because it gave me a chance to sit down and re-evaluate what’s important and what I want my life to look like, and what do I want people to know me for. When they think of me, what are they going to say? Another thing that it showed me was the people that were in my corner. A lot of people I didn’t even know or even expect to be in my corner, they showed up. So that was huge for me. It just gave me more appreciation, more love honestly for this organization and this team.”

It was his most powerful statement of the day. Since the NFL is continuing to investigate, Jacobs was limited in what he could say. So, there was no explanation of what happened on May 23.

But he expressed remorse for putting the team through the ordeal, gratitude for the team for standing by him and an eagerness to return to the football field.

Throughout the 9-plus minutes with reporters, he spoke nervously. His lips quivered at times and he frequently rubbed his chest.

Here are the highlights of what he said.

Josh Jacobs’ Opening Statement

Jacobs did not speak from notes or read a statement. Instead, he spoke for 1 minute, 23 seconds to open the conversation.

“First, I’m excited to be back with the team, with the guys. I want to say thank you to the organization, really, for supporting me throughout this whole process and how everything played out. With that being said, I can’t get into a lot of things like specifics of things but, obviously, man, I’m remorseful and sorry for putting this team in this situation.

“Sometimes when you go through life, situations occur and a 4-second, 3-second decision can alter your life, honestly. But with that being said, still a human being, man, still trying to learn, still trying to grow from the whole process. Actually learned a lot throughout this process legally and just personally. But going forward, man, I just try to be better.

“I know for some people this might be a stain on me and my character. I feel like I don’t have to really speak on my character. A lot of people that know me in this locker room or that’s been around me, I’ll let them do that. But for me, man, I’m just trying to come back in here and play ball, learn from this mistake and move forward.”

Six-Game Punishment

Jacobs said he wasn’t “overly concerned” about his career being over because “in my heart, I know what happened and what didn’t happen.”

Jacobs spent the first six games of the season on the exempt list, meaning he could not practice or play with the team but could attend meetings and workout.

“I think six games was a lot, honestly, but that’s not really up to me to decide,” he said. “I’m grateful to be playing, so that’s not even something that I’m like arguing or petitioning with. I’m just happy to be back on the team.”

The NFL is continuing its investigation. A suspension is the expectation; the question is whether it will sideline him for more games.

“Honestly, I thought it would be sooner,” he said. “I thought it’d be sooner. I thought I’d be playing sooner. But, you know, the optics of everything, I understand the other side. For me, like I said, I’m just grateful to be able to play. It was one of them things where I didn’t want to sit the whole year and then figure it out. I’m just grateful to be back on the team and to be back playing.”

Josh Jacobs’ Message to the Team

Jacobs was arrested over Memorial Day Weekend and addressed the team shortly thereafter.

“I was just apologizing to the guys because I know a lot of guys look up to me, a lot of guys come to me about real-life issues and things that go on in their lives. And so for me, being that guy for a lot of people, it’s weird when you take that fall. For me, it’s just trying to show everybody like, you know, I’m not better than the next person. I still deal with my own personal things.

“But, at the end of the day, just know that I’m still be here, I’m still show up and I’m still be the same guy. But really the main story was for me, when we had that meeting, was me being apologetic for the attention that it’s brought to this team having the guys have to answer or watch what they say when it comes to that, so that’s just something I had to take accountability for.”

Josh Jacobs Concerned About Locker Room, Not Fans

For Jacobs, his focus has been on the team – the players, coaches and front office – and not about winning over fans who turned on him following whatever happened almost five months ago, which concluded legally with him pleading no contest to misdemeanor charges of battery and criminal damage to property.

“No, I don’t think I had to earn respect back from the guys because I’m the same person every day. Like I said, at the end of the day, we human. We all make mistakes. It’s just different for me because I’m in the public eye.

“Like I said, I’ll let other people speak to my character and who I am and who I consistently have been. When it comes to earning the respect for the fans, I mean, for me, it’s more of a thing of not trying to put this organization in a position where it looks negative in any type of way. At the end of the day, people are always going to have they opinion. People are going to believe what they believe, and it’s not really my job to try to explain or discount certain things. All I can try to do is control what I can control and move on from there.”

Later, he made the same point about the fans, who have formed their opinion based on the facts made public and are unlikely to be persuaded one way or the other.

“I’m not trying to win nobody back, and that’s just me being all the way honest because, at the end of the day, like I said, I know what happened and if you feel some type of way – obviously, I feel bad because it’s still a situation occurred and it should’ve never even happened, so that’s something that I still will understand if people feel some type of way about it.

“But, like I said, all I can do is keep showing up and being who I am, being a leader for this team, being a leader in this community and that’s really all I can control.”

Will Josh Jacobs Play Against the Lions?

Jacobs will practice this week before a determination is made about his availability for Sunday’s game against the Detroit Lions. While he hasn’t been practicing with the team, he’s been in meetings and has been working out.

“I’ve been actually practicing with my helmet and shoulder pads, so it’s not like it’s like overly different,” he said. “But just trying to get back to the flow of the guys, simple stuff like being in the huddle, listening to the play call and going out there and executing within that 5-second, 6-second span.

“And also just getting back in the flow of the guys. We’ve got guys even up front that I’ve never played with. That’s another thing. But we’re going to see how it goes. I don’t know where we’re going to be at this week, or if I’m actually going to play or not. All I’m trying to do is get prepared to play if they let me.”

Jacobs isn’t sure if he’ll play, but that’s his goal.

“If it’s up to me,” he said, “I’m going to play.”

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