Injury Concerns Around Packers' Star Offseason Addition Are Overblown

The NFL essentially being a year-round league is a lot of fun, but it also creates unnecessary stress for fans.

Josh Jacobs figures to be a transformational piece in the Green Bay Packers' offense. Upgrading from a certain running back who shall not be named after signing with a division rival, Jacobs carries a sizable $5.3 million cap hit in 2024. So, when Jacobs suffered a hamstring injury early in OTAs, some Packers fans started to panic.

But let's all take a deep breath, shall we?

First of all, even in the scope of worrying about OTAs, he's fine and not expected to miss much time.

Packers Fans, Stop Worrying About Josh Jacobs Injury

And let's say he's out longer than expected. Are we really getting torn up about a guy missing a couple weeks of OTAs? Especially at the running back position?

If you had to pick one position where someone can step in and play without building much chemistry with their teammates, it's running back. This isn't like a star quarterback not getting to build chemistry with his receivers.

And honestly, how much chemistry do you build in a couple weeks of light practice in the spring?

If Jacobs were holding out that would be one thing. If this were a training camp in August, maybe that would be a concern. If he were undergoing surgery, that's another conversation. But it's a pulled muscle in May. You or I could pull a hamstring right now and be 100% by August.

It's also not like Jacobs has a history of hamstring issues that make this a red flag. He's only missed 10 games in his five-year NFL career (pretty good for a running back who has never handled fewer than 260 touches in a season), and none of those were due to a hamstring injury.

I get that Jacobs is a shiny new toy. When you first get a new car, you fret over every single potential scratch or ding. So maybe this is actually a relief. Jacobs just picked up his first ding, and now when you see in two weeks that he's totally fine you can realize that we don't need to stress about every little update on him.

The Packers still rank top-five in FanDuel Sportsbook's odds to win the NFC this season at +850, and it's going to take a lot more than a running back needing some recovery days in May to make those odds any worse.

It's fun to have NFL storylines to follow in May, but if you're letting yourself get beat up about Jacobs' hamstring issue then maybe you're taking OTAs a little too seriously.

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