In a recent appearance on the “Green Light Show” with Chris Long, former Las Vegas Raiders running back Josh Jacobs laid out his side of the story. The question now is, “Do you believe him?”
These days, Jacobs mostly makes headlines with Raiders fans due to his exploits on social media. His passive-aggressive posts have certainly made waves. However, we hadn’t really heard one-on-one what went down between him and the Raiders’ brain trust. Speaking with Long, Jacobs was quite candid, not holding back his side of the events.
Josh Jacobs and Antonio Pierce: What might’ve been…
We all remember the praise Raiders head coach Antonio Pierce heaped on his players—unlike his predecessor, he understood the fabric of this team and who the leaders were. He wasn’t shy about letting us know what he thought about Jacobs, and No. 8 didn’t forget, recalling what Coach Pierce said about him once.
“He called me ‘the heart of the team.’ I wanted to come back and play for him. But at the same time, it was out of his hands.”
As Jacobs pointed out, it was indeed out of Pierce’s hands. As a rookie head coach, entrusting him with roster management and contracts was surely out of the question. His focus was to be “on the field.” Regrettably, as Jacobs mentioned, Pierce was out of the loop, at least from his perspective.
The Raiders and a losing culture…
Despite filling up the record books with his name, Josh Jacobs didn’t see much success with the Raiders. In fact, the Raiders never won more than ten games during his run, and they lost as many as 11 in 2022. Reflecting on his time prior to the Silver and Black, Jacobs made no bones about how he felt.
“Coming from Alabama, I went to a championship every year I was there. Every year. I remember coming to the league and losing my first game. I was mad, and I didn’t talk to anybody. A vet came up to me and said, ‘This is the NFL; you are going to lose.’ So, you’re cool with losing? It was so different.”
Speaking of all the losses, it appears that they certainly played a factor in Jacob’s departure from the Raiders. Citing a meeting with the team, Jacobs spoke about the team wanting to bring him back on a cheap deal without there being much of a guarantee that the team would be doing any winning.
“You want me to come back on a discount and lose? I don’t know how I feel about that.”
The Raiders’ offense relied heavily on Jacobs, and given his commanding price, one could argue his worth. In theory, it’s possible that the team could’ve signed him to a team-friendly contract without necessarily overpaying him—nevertheless, what’s done is done.
Tom Telesco and the meeting that never was…
Josh Jacobs’ stance on general manager Tom Telesco was the final note about everything he had to say. According to Jacobs, the two sides never met—at least not directly (Jacobs and Telesco).
“I never talked to the GM, or none of that. It was what it was. I have every Raider record since I’ve been here; if you don’t have enough respect for me to sit down with me to have a conversation, then we have nothing to talk about.”
Now that we’ve heard it from the man himself, it’ll be a matter of whether Raiders fans believe the former All-Pro running back.
*Top Photo: Getty Images
