The Oakland Raiders have had to deal with some injuries before the season has even begun as running back Isaiah Crowell tore his Achilles early into offseason workouts.
Due to Crowell’s injury, the Raiders have brought back running back Doug Martin. With the quick shift in dynamic of the running back rotation, rookie Josh Jacobs is expected to pick up the load.
Jacobs understands that the locker room will need to pull together this season and he will need to step up in Crowell’s absence, via Eddie Paskal of Raiders.com:
“If a man goes down, it’s the next man up, so just seeing that he [Crowell] went down, which is crazy when I saw the headlines and stuff, I couldn’t believe it,” Jacobs explained. “But it’s just basically about the running back room staying together, learning off each other, and then going out and picking up the slack where he fell off at.”
Jacobs was already expected to assume a significant role in his rookie season after being taken in the firth round out of Alabama. Now, the running back will need to show leadership in the face of adversity.
Martin will be going into his second season with the Raiders. In 2018, the veteran had his best year since 2015, notching 723 rushing yards. Jacobs himself ran for 640 yards and 11 touchdowns in his final year at Alabama.
Head coach Jon Gruden indicated that he is happy with the return of Martin since he is familiar with the team’s system. He thinks that Jacobs will have to learn that system if he hopes to compete for more playing time.