Packers hopeful Josh Jacobs, who faces legal issues, can play at some point this season

Green Bay Packers running back Josh Jacobs still has the support of his coach and general manager, who remain optimistic the three-time pro bowler will come off the commissioner’s exempt list and play sometime this season.

Jacobs was placed on the exempt list after being charged with two misdemeanours in a domestic violence case.

“There were many conversations obviously and certainly don’t know all the details, but what he tells me, I believe him and I trust him,” Packers coach Matt LaFleur said Tuesday. “I’m going to do that until proven otherwise.”

General manager Brian Gutekunst said he is hopeful the running back will return before the end of the season. “But we’re going to let this process play out, and we’ll be prepared either way,” Gutekunst said.

Gutekunst said he hasn’t seen the video that the Brown County (Wisconsin) District Attorney’s office says it has as evidence corroborating statements made by Jacobs’s girlfriend regarding their May 23 altercation. Jacobs, who was arrested May 26, faces charges of battery and criminal damage to property.

District Attorney David Lasee announced Thursday that the charges were being filed. Three days later, the NFL put Jacobs on the exempt list, which prevents him from playing or practising but allows him to keep receiving a paycheque.

Upon request and with the club’s permission, Jacobs may be allowed at the facility for meetings, individual workouts, therapy and rehabilitation and other non-football activities.

The NFL is investigating Jacobs’s situation and he could be suspended by the league. Any games he misses while on the exempt list would count toward his suspension, but he would also have to repay the money he earned during that time.

LaFleur said the Packers were prepared for the possibility Jacobs might get placed on the list.

“I’ve seen this guy,” LaFleur said. “I’ve got a love and care and respect for how he is as a person, who he is as a teammate. Obviously a very unfortunate situation, but one that we have to deal with.”

Jacobs’s lawyers – David Z. Chesnoff, Richard A. Schonfeld, and Clarence F. Duchac III – have noted that the move to the commissioner’s exempt list “is not a final determination.” They added that Jacobs “looks forward to his return to the team and the NFL.”

Hobart-Lawrence police officers who responded to the May 23 call said Jacobs’s girlfriend told them she had a lump on her head as a result of Jacobs’s actions.

According to police, the woman said she had been looking through Jacobs’s phone and saw he was talking to other women, and that she threw the phone in anger without breaking it. She told police that Jacobs had her phone and she told him he could look through it.

According to police, the woman indicated she tried to retrieve her phone from Jacobs, but he grabbed her arm and began a struggle lasting several minutes. They left the home in separate vehicles before eventually returning.

Police said the woman was trying to exit a garage door when Jacobs grabbed her and threw her to the ground, causing her to hit her head. Police said Jacobs also took the phone from her while she was on the ground.

According to the criminal complaint, surveillance footage from the camera system in the garage backed up the woman’s statement.

“We have not seen the video,” Gutekunst said. “Those are legal things going on right now, so we’ll let those play out. … But in the appropriate times, if those things become available, we’ll figure that stuff out when that time comes.”

Jacobs’s absence hurts Green Bay at a position where it already lacked depth.

MarShawn Lloyd, a third-round draft pick in 2024, has played just one game in two seasons because of injuries, though he’s now healthy. Chris Brooks rushed for 106 yards on 27 carries last year.

The Packers acquired 2025 third-round pick Kaleb Johnson from Pittsburgh for a 2028 sixth-round selection on Sunday.

Johnson had 28 carries for 69 yards as a rookie. His second career game was a 31-17 loss at Seattle in which he didn’t chase a kickoff that bounced over his head, leading to a Seahawks touchdown.

“I feel like that kickoff killed me, and from then on it was just downhill from there,” Johnson said. “I give all respect to the Steelers for giving me a chance and drafting me, but it’s ‘Go Pack Go’ now, so let’s go.”

Lloyd said he got a lot of assistance from Jacobs, who gave him rides to practice and helped him persevere through his injuries.

Now Lloyd is offering support to his older teammate.

“I don’t know what’s going on, but that’s my brother, so I’ve just got to stay on that forever,” Lloyd said. “He’s helped me when I was in the worst part of my life really, those last two years.”