Green Bay Packers head coach Matt LaFleur said Monday he still has no word from the NFL on when running back Josh Jacobs might come off the commissioner’s exempt list or whether the league will suspend him further.
“I’ve got no updates there,” LaFleur said.
The 28-year-old remains sidelined as the Packers prepare for their Week 6 game against the Dallas Cowboys on Sunday night. Jacobs has missed the first five games of the season while the NFL completes its review under the personal conduct policy.
Jacobs was charged with two misdemeanors — battery and criminal damage to property — after a May 23 incident at his home. The charges were reduced from an initial set of five felonies that included strangulation. He pleaded no contest, paid a $1,000 fine and received a deferred judgment.
The league placed him on the exempt list on Aug. 30, which bars him from practicing or playing but continues his pay. Time spent on the list is expected to count as time served toward any eventual suspension.
NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport said weeks ago that a decision might not arrive until the Packers are five, six or even eight games into the season.
“If they get to the point where it’s five games, six games, maybe eight games, that might be when you’re looking at a potential return for Josh Jacobs,” Rapoport said.
If the suspension ends up at six games or fewer, Jacobs could rejoin the lineup as soon as he is cleared from the list. The Packers have heard nothing that would clarify the timeline.
Without Jacobs, Green Bay’s running game ranks last in the NFL. The team is averaging roughly 60 rushing yards per game through five contests and sits at 3-2 after a 31-7 win over the Chicago Bears.
MarShawn Lloyd has carried the ball 40 times for 112 yards and two touchdowns. Kaleb Johnson has 27 carries for 106 yards. Chris Brooks is on injured reserve after 15 carries for 70 yards, and Pierre Strong has five carries for seven yards since being elevated.
Jacobs signed a four-year, $48 million contract with Green Bay in 2024. In his first season he ran 301 times for 1,329 yards and 15 touchdowns. Last year he finished with 234 carries, 929 yards and 13 scores.
Those numbers made him one of the league’s more productive backs, yet the current offense has leaned almost entirely on the passing game led by Jordan Love. The Packers have just two rushing touchdowns as a team this season, both scored by Lloyd against Chicago.
LaFleur has said previously that he expects Jacobs to remain with the team once the process ends. General manager Brian Gutekunst has echoed that view while noting the organization will let the league finish its work.
If the Packers decide to move on after this season, they would absorb a little more than $3 million in dead money and free up more than $13 million in cap space. That financial flexibility exists because the bulk of the guaranteed money has already been paid.
For now the focus stays on the field. The Cowboys present another test for a backfield that has yet to find a consistent runner. Lloyd and Johnson will again share the load while the organization waits for clarity on its highest-paid offensive player outside of Love.
The uncertainty has stretched longer than many anticipated when Jacobs was first placed on the list. With Week 6 now here, the Packers continue to operate without a clear date for his possible return.
