HENDERSON, Nev. — Las Vegas Raiders running back Josh Jacobs has been ruled out of Sunday’s game at the Pittsburgh Steelers, as the Pro Bowler has missed practice all week because of toe and ankle injuries.
Jacobs rushed for two touchdowns but only 34 yards on 10 carries in the Raiders’ 33-27 overtime win against the Baltimore Ravens on Monday night.
Raiders coach Jon Gruden said Peyton Barber, who signed with Las Vegas on Sept. 4, would get Jacobs’ reps, with veteran Kenyan Drake remaining in the team’s game plan as a pass-catching back out of the backfield.
“We really like Barber — we think he’s a heck of a back,” Gruden said. “I like the way he runs and catches and picks up blitzes.
“We’re excited about this opportunity to see what we have.”
Barber, 27, rushed for 258 yards and four TDs on 94 carries in 16 games — including two starts — for Washington last season. He had a career-best 871 rushing yards in 16 starts for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 2018.
Jacobs, meanwhile, has a pair of 1,000-yard rushing seasons in his first two NFL campaigns but has yet to not miss a game because of injury. He missed three games as a rookie, when he rushed for 1,150 yards and seven TDs and averaged 4.8 yards per carry, and missed one game last season, when his yards-per-carry average dropped to 3.9 while running for 1,065 yards and 12 TDs.
Last week, Jacobs said his practice workload would be reduced to keep him fresh for games.