The story for the last few weeks for the Las Vegas Raiders has undoubtedly been the performance of running back Josh Jacobs. The Raiders’ back has run for at least 140 yards and a touchdown in each of the last three contests and has put himself in some rare company amongst Raiders backs.
This has also resulted in the team picking up their first two wins of the season, something extremely necessary considering their start to the year. Now sitting at 2-4, the Raiders have a chance to turn this season around, but for the time being still find themselves near the bottom of the standings, and that is what Jacobs remains focused on.
Jacobs spoke to Tashan Reed of The Athletic about his recent stretch of success but made it clear that despite his excellent individual success of late, Jacobs won’t be satisfied without better team success:
“It’s hard to have self-satisfaction,” Jacobs said. “Because, obviously, we’re still on the bottom end of the winning pole. And then it’s still a long season. If I don’t play good the rest of the season, everything I did up to now don’t really mean nothing. The biggest thing for me is, man, I want to get in the playoffs. I want to go on a run and actually feel what it feels like to actually experience that. I think we have a special group of guys. When we’re all clicking offensively and defensively, we’re a scary team. I’m just trying to find a way to approach going about working every day to bring out the best out of everybody.”
These are the types of players anyone would want on their team. Jacobs is in the midst of the best stretch of his career, but it doesn’t bring him the greatest joy it could because the Raiders as a team aren’t where he wants them to be. As he noted, Jacobs is a part of a special group of players on the Raiders’ offense, with their collection of skill position players rivaling any in the NFL.
The offensive line is improving, which greatly helps Jacobs and the Raiders’ offense as well, and that seems to be heading in the right direction. Unfortunately, the Raiders’ slow start to the season leaves them little room for error moving forward, but Jacobs continuing to run the ball the way he has will play a big factor in the Raiders potentially making that run to the playoffs he wants so badly.
