There’s one thing Raiders’ Josh Jacobs cares more about than making franchise history
.JPG "Oakland Raiders running back Josh Jacobs (28) tries to break a tackle by Kansas City Chiefs defensive tackle Chris Jones (95) during the first half of an NFL football game in Kansas City, Mo., Sunday, Dec. 1, 2019.")
Don’t tell Oakland Raiders running back Josh Jacobs that he eclipsed the 1,000-yard mark in his rookie season.
He just prefers another statistic.
“I just care about wins,” Jacobs said after the Raiders’ 40-9 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs. “That’s my ultimate goal – try to win. I passed 1,000 yards, but I’m not going to celebrate because we lost. It is what it is.”
Jacobs finished with 17 carries for 104 yards and became the first rookie in franchise history to rush for 1,000 yards (1,061) – and the Raiders’ first 1,000-yard rusher since Latavius Murray in 2015.
Oakland dropped to 6-6, but remains in the hunt for an NFL wild-card spot, trailing the Pittsburgh Steelers 7-5 for the last spot in the AFC.
The Raiders’ next opponent the Tennessee Titans also are 7-5. The teams meet at the Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum on Sunday.
Despite the lopsided loss, Jacobs was encouraged with how his teammates kept fighting.
“The thing that I liked this week that was better than last week is nobody gave up,” he said. “That was huge for us. Last week I felt like people gave up in the game. I felt like nobody gave up in this game. Of course I’m disappointed with the loss, but I’m not frustrated if that makes sense.”
Jacobs is confident his teammates will rally for the Titans game.
“We just come in and work every day,” he said. “That’s the mentality with everybody in this room. We have a special group and we have a group that wants to be better and I just feel like we’re going to come in on Monday and attack and try to be better. Improve where we messed up (Sunday) and learn from it.”
This story was originally published December 1, 2019 at 9:30 PM.
