The Detroit Lions are currently on their bye week, but they’ll face a critical turning point in their season when they host the Green Bay Packers in Week 7. Of the Lions’ 12 remaining games, six of them are within the NFC North and a win over the Packers would be a step in the right direction, especially with the return of Josh Jacobs.
According to The Ringer’s Tom Pelissero, the NFL will remove Jacobs from the NFL’s commissioner’s list on Monday. Jacobs was placed on the list following a May arrest just before the start of the season, but while the NFL’s investigation remains open, he will be eligible to practice and return to game action immediately.
This means it’s likely that Jacobs will make his season debut against the Lions and with the way the Packers have needed him in the running game and his history against Detroit, it’s another obstacle for the Lions to overcome in a pivotal divisional showdown.
Josh Jacobs likely to make his season debut vs. the Lions in Week 7
Jacobs’ status was a big question ahead of the Week 7 matchup against the Packers. He was placed on the commissioner’s exempt list on Aug. 30 and pleaded no contest on Sept. 10 to charges of battery and criminal destruction of property. He also was convicted of battery and fined $1,000 and agreed to deferred judgment agreement on a charge of damage to property.
According to ESPN’s Adam Schefter, the league has not closed its investigation because it has not seen the surveillance video from Jacobs’s home that was noted in the criminal report. Since then, Brown County District Court judge Marc A. Hammer lifted a temporary seal of the records and turned the decision to release part or all of the record to the Hobart/Lawrence, Wisc. police department.
That proceeded the announcement on Tuesday that it would release some records but did not mention whether the surveillance video was part of that release. Jacobs and the victim in the case also filed suit to block the release of evidence and have it permanently sealed on Wednesday, but it has progressed far enough where the NFL has decided to remove Jacobs from the commissioner’s list.
In the unlikely event that the NFL concludes its investigation this week and determines that Jacobs deserves additional punishment to the six games he’s already missed this season, he could still miss next week’s game against the Lions. But for now it appears that he will suit up against the Lions, giving life to the Packers’ ground game.
Josh Jacobs’s history against the Lions makes his return even more dangerous
Since signing as a free agent ahead of the 2024 season, Jacobs has run for 2,258 yards and 28 touchdowns with the Packers while adding 72 catches for 624 yards and two touchdowns. He also has been a Lions killer throughout his career, running for 491 yards and seven touchdowns on 110 attempts (4.5 yards per carry) in six career games.
That makes Friday’s news a welcome development for a Packers team that heads into Week 6 with the second-worst running game in the NFL at 3.3 yards per carry. While MarShawn Lloyd, Kaleb Johnson, Chris Brooks and Pierre Strong have all tried to carry the load, none of them have been successful, leaving Jordan Love to throw for 1,408 yards, 10 touchdowns and three interceptions in his first five games.
Love and the passing game will likely be the main focus on Green Bay’s attack as the Lions’ secondary has allowed an NFL-high 14 touchdowns in its first five games. But Detroit is also getting reinforcements, as Brian Branch is expected to make his return after tearing his Achilles tendon last December.
Jacobs’s case remains a serious matter off the field and likely will have another development when the NFL completes its investigation. But the Lions will be left to deal with the on-field impact, which makes a big game against the Packers even bigger when Detroit returns from the bye.
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