It appeared for a brief moment on Monday that All-Pro running back Josh Jacobs was ready to end his standoff with the Las Vegas Raiders.
The Las Vegas Review-Journal reported that sources said Jacobs was ending his holdout and reporting to the team before its season opener against the Denver Broncos on Sept. 10. However, the Alabama alumnus refuted the report on X, formerly known as Twitter — though he's since deleted the tweet.
Las Vegas Raiders star running back Josh Jacobs has denied the reports of him ending his holdout to return to the team.
— Raiders Resistance (@RaidersResist) August 21, 2023
In this since then deleted tweet he put out confirming he has not said a word about him returning to Las Vegas yet. #RaiderNation | #Raiders@MitchellRenz365 pic.twitter.com/4iTZYtvrzW
The speculation comes just 24 hours after Raiders coach Josh McDaniels told reporters after a 34-17 preseason win over the Los Angeles Rams that he had no new updates on Jacobs’ status with the team and expressed a small bit of concern that Jacobs only has three weeks to get ready for the season opener.
"We've talked all year to our team about nothing carries over from one year to the next,” McDaniels said. “You have to re-establish your individual level of performance and collectively as a unit, and ultimately as a team, we have to establish and re-establish ourselves in terms of what we're going to be about. So, whether it would be [Jacobs] or somebody else, it's the same thing. Everybody's got to have an opportunity to do that, get re-acclimated to the pace, the speed of things. But again, I have no new information on the whole situation."
Josina Anderson of CBS Sports reported nearly three weeks ago that the Raiders were open to restarting contract negotiations with the 25-year-old tailback in hopes of getting him to camp.
Jacobs reportedly turned down a contract worth approximately $12 million per year prior to the July 17 franchise-tag deadline, at which point he boarded a plane and left Las Vegas, telling those close to him that he had no plans of returning any time soon.
The two-time Pro Bowler rushed for a league-high 1,653 yards and 12 touchdowns while adding 53 receptions for another 400 yards last season. His 2,053 yards from scrimmage also led the NFL.
Josh Jacobs was unstoppable last season ☠️ pic.twitter.com/LI5QRWMzFX
— PFF (@PFF) July 30, 2023
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