Last season, Josh Jacobs was 71 yards shy of finishing the regular season with 1,000.

The Green Bay Packers have had a bit of turnover in the RB2 department since Jacobs came to the team in 2024, but his initial 1,329-yard season with the team immediately made their decision to sign him look like a home run.

Suddenly, right before the 2026 season, Jacobs was placed on the Commissioner's Exempt List and was ruled out indefinitely. 

After going through court and the legal process, Jacobs would miss the first six games of the season, but he's officially off the Exempt List heading into Week 7.

Remember, that doesn't mean he's guaranteed to play on Sunday, Oct. 25, against the Detroit Lions, but head coach Matt LaFleur said he's been training and, while he hasn't been able to practice with the team, that all changed on Monday, Oct. 19.

Fans are going to be divided on the Packers keeping the 28-year-old around with everything that transpired off the field, but if he was cleared by the league to return, that's all that matters.

The Packers take these matters very seriously, and there's a chance his video ends up surfacing and further suspensions or steps are taken to prevent him from playing, but for now, it's full steam ahead.

Jacobs averaged just 2.9 yards per attempt in the team's 31-27 loss to the Chicago Bears in the playoffs a year ago, and he was overall coming off a down year compared to what he did in '24.

That said, everything seems like it'll be better than what this team is getting out of MarShawn Lloyd, Kaleb Johnson, Chris Brooks, and Pierre Strong.

Other than a fumble near the end zone, Johnson has looked decent, but Strong was the clear RB1 in the Packers' win on Sunday Night Football against the Cowboys.

Things just aren't going well for Lloyd in his first real taste of playing time in the NFL. He's averaging just 2.5 yards per carry, and that comes with no small sample size as he has 48 attempts on the year.

Obviously, the Packers aren't just going to throw Jacobs back into the fire. They'll need to ease him back into action, and they better hope this offensive line is up for the challenge.

Run-blocking has been a major problem for them this season, but Jacobs' impending return could change everything, though that's far from a guarantee.