Packers RB Josh Jacobs to Have Finger Surgery, IR on the Table as Kaleb Johnson Steps Up

The Green Bay Packers finally got their run game moving in New England. They lost their lead back in the same afternoon.

Josh Jacobs needs surgery on the fractured ring finger of his right hand, head coach Matt LaFleur said Monday, and the Packers have not ruled out injured reserve. "It should happen sometime this week," LaFleur said of the procedure, according to Packers.com (opens in a new tab). How long Jacobs will be out is still to be determined. An IR placement would cost him at least four games.

A stiff-arm gone wrong

The injury came in the first quarter of Sunday's 45-27 win over the New England Patriots. Jacobs tried to stiff-arm defensive back Craig Woodson and his hand got caught in Woodson's helmet, ESPN reported. The medical staff tried tape, then a cast. Neither worked.

"I don't think he could," LaFleur said when asked whether Jacobs could play through it. "He tried last night. He tried to go back in and he had no grip strength."

Jacobs told reporters he could see part of the bone after the play and popped the finger back into place himself. "It looked nasty," Jacobs said, per ESPN. He finished with four carries for 5 yards before leaving for good.

As of Wednesday, the Packers' official transaction log showed no roster move for Jacobs.

A rough return

The timing stings because Jacobs was still searching for traction. In three games since coming back, he has 36 carries for 80 yards and a touchdown, plus 11 catches for 68 yards and two more scores, according to ESPN. That is 148 yards on 47 touches, and his 2.2 yards per carry is the worst average of his career, per NFL.com.

Jacobs missed the first six games on the NFL's Commissioner Exempt List. On Sept. 10 he pleaded no contest to misdemeanor battery and criminal damage to property, charges tied to a May incident involving his then-girlfriend at his home near Green Bay, according to Field Level Media and NFL.com. The league's investigation into whether he violated the personal conduct policy is ongoing.

Kaleb Johnson's opening

With Jacobs out, Kaleb Johnson delivered the best game by a Packers running back this season: 14 carries for 68 yards and a touchdown. The 2-yard score in the second quarter was the first touchdown of Johnson's career and pushed the lead to 24-7. In the fourth quarter Johnson broke a 34-yard run, Green Bay's longest rush of the season. He already owned the second-longest, a 31-yarder at Tampa Bay in Week 4.

"I thought he did a good job," LaFleur said. "When there were lanes there, he hit it. Obviously he broke a couple explosive runs. That was definitely encouraging to see."

Johnson, a 2025 third-round pick out of Iowa, came over from the Pittsburgh Steelers on Aug. 30 for a 2028 sixth-round pick. He had 28 carries for 69 yards as a rookie in Pittsburgh. Packers.com noted this week that Green Bay's coaches have said Johnson has a better handle on the protection calls now.

"I feel like this is a little thing of what I can do when I get comfortable with the system," Johnson said after the game, per Packers.com.

Help on the way?

The backfield is thin. MarShawn Lloyd missed the Patriots game with a knee injury from practice. Pierre Strong Jr. added eight carries for 22 yards on Sunday. Chris Brooks, on injured reserve since Oct. 10 with an ankle injury, returned to practice last week, and LaFleur said there is a "good chance" Brooks comes off IR this week.

That matters for protection as much as for carries. Brooks knows the Packers' blitz pickup schemes better than Johnson, according to Packers.com, and Minnesota's defense sends pressure often. LaFleur said Monday the team was not necessarily looking to add a running back before Tuesday's trade deadline, and ESPN reported he believes Brooks' return could make that unnecessary.

Green Bay ran for 129 yards in Foxborough, its first game over 86 rushing yards this season, yet still ranks last in the NFL on the ground, per ESPN.

What the calendar says

The Packers are 6-3 and host the Minnesota Vikings on Sunday before their Week 11 bye. Then comes a trip to the Los Angeles Rams on Thanksgiving Eve, a game at New Orleans and a home date with Buffalo. If Jacobs lands on IR, that stretch is his minimum absence.

For now, the job belongs to Johnson, with Brooks possibly back to share it. One good Sunday does not fix the league's worst rushing attack, but it gave Green Bay something it had not seen all season: a running back who looked comfortable.

Sources: Packers.com, ESPN, NFL.com, Field Level Media, TSN, Yahoo Sports.

Photo: Keller Nienau/Green Bay Packers.