GM Brian Gutekunst expects Josh Jacobs to play for Packers this season

Green Bay Packers general manager Brian Gutekunst said he expects running back Josh Jacobs to play for the team this season.

“I’m certainly hopeful that he will and certainly would expect that,” Gutekunst said. “But we’re going to let this process play out, and we’ll be prepared either way.”

Jacobs is currently on the commissioner’s exempt list after being charged last Thursday with misdemeanor battery and criminal damage to property stemming from an alleged incident at his home on May 23.

Asked if there’s a scenario in which the Packers release Jacobs, Gutekunst said, “I think we’ll let the process play out before we make any kind of those decisions.”

The NFL has yet to issue a suspension for Jacobs, who can’t practice or play while on the exempt list. Gutekunst also said the Packers haven’t seen the surveillance video from Jacobs’ garage that is mentioned in the police report.

The Brown County district attorney said the video corroborates the alleged victim’s claims of what happened in the garage. Earlier in the incident report, police say she alleged that Jacobs grabbed her and threw her to the ground, causing her to hit her head and suffer an injury.

“In the appropriate times, if those things become available (the video), we’ll figure that stuff out when that time comes,” Gutekunst said.

He was also asked whether he needed to see the video to decide on Jacobs and said, “We’re going to kind of lean on the legal process and let that happen, but we’ll take things as they come.”

Jacobs, whom the Packers signed to a four-year, $48 million contract in March 2024, has rushed for 2,258 yards and 28 touchdowns in two seasons with the Packers and was voted by teammates as one of the offense’s three season-long captains last season.