GREEN BAY – As the dust settled on the Packers' win in Seattle Sunday night, Ben Sirmans expected a battered and bruised Josh Jacobs to emerge from the depths of Lumen Field.
Instead, Green Bay's longtime running backs coach saw the polar opposite from his pupil, who just pummeled his way to 136 total yards and a touchdown on 30 touches – nearly half the 61 offensive plays the Packers ran in the 30-13 road victory.
"I saw him after the game, I was like, 'Oh man, you probably can't even walk right now,'" Sirmans said. "He's said, 'No, I'm good. I'm good.' He had a nice pep in his step.
"He's almost like Wolverine. His body just keeps regenerating itself and he's good to go."
This is the Josh Jacobs the Packers have come to know and love this season – tougher than leather with one hand permanently locked in the upright position to express his desire for more.
Only Saquon Barkley (285) and Kyren Williams (280) have carried the football more than Jacobs (265). Only Barkley (1,688) and Derrick Henry (1,474) have produced more rushing yards than Jacobs' 1,147 through 14 games.
It puts the 5-foot-10, 223-pound running back on pace for 312 carries this year, which would make Jacobs just the fifth running back in Packers history to eclipse 300 carries in a season and the first in 16 years (Ryan Grant, 312 in 2008).
It's the type of a durability, toughness and all-around production Green Bay expected when it signed the former All-Pro running back as an unrestricted free agent back in March.
The Packers wanted a bell cow and Jacobs wanted to win. So far, it's been a perfect match.
"I feel great," Jacobs said. "I don't have no bruises, no nothing right now. I feel great. Just as long as I feel good, I feel like we can do whatever we can do. If I was battling with something right now, then I would probably say be precautious, but I feel great."
Jacobs hasn't just maintained – he's actually gotten better as the season has progressed. Eleven of Jacobs' 12 rushing TDs have come since Week 8, which leads NFL over that stretch.
Only Hall of Famer running back Jim Taylor had more rushing touchdowns over a five-game span for GB (11, 1962). Jacobs has done it while being among the league leaders in both forced missed tackles. Per TruMedia, Jacobs is third in the league in rushing yards after contact with 951.
So, how does he do it? Biology is a part of it but it's also the way Jacobs runs. The 26-year-old running back doesn't just absorb hits. He lowers the boom.
"When he's about to get hit, you'll see him accelerate his feet on the contact so now you're not taking on the full brunt of that force," Sirmans said. "He's done a really good job of understanding how to take on the hit but also how to dish it out to where you're not taking on the brunt of the force when somebody's trying to tackle you."
There may be no better example of Jacobs' impact than the beginning of last Sunday's win in Seattle. He touched the ball on nine of Green Bay's 10 plays on its opening scoring drive, including a 1-yard touchdown run.
Sirmans expected Jacobs would sub out after the series, but No. 8 was back on the field for the Packers' second offensive possession. He caught a 21-yard pass on the first play and busted a 19-yard run three plays later.
Jacobs finished with a season-high 84 total yards in the first quarter en route to 111 yards from scrimmage in the first half, his NFL-best third game this season with 100-plus yards from scrimmage in the first half.
"Certainly, the production speaks for itself. I mean, he's an animal out there," Head Coach Matt LaFleur said. "Very few times do I feel like when we give him the ball, he doesn't make the first guy miss. And so hopefully we'll continue to draw up some better things for him, because he's handled a lot of tough yards where he's getting hit in the hole or a yard downfield and still getting positive yardage out of the plays."
It's all part of the gig for Jacobs, whose 13 total TDs are a career high and tied for the most in team history by a player in his first season in a Green Bay uniform (Ahman Green in 2000 and Billy Howton in 1952).
Having tasted the NFL playoffs just once in his first five seasons, Jacobs is hellbent on making a return appearance in Year 1 with the Packers.
He's willing to do whatever it takes to get there.
"I want the ball," said Jacobs, laughing. "(But) anything I can do to help this team win. If we pass the ball 40 times and we win, I'm OK with it. I'm OK with it. I'm not complaining about it at all. But I definitely want to be part of helping the team win."
