Jacobs wants the ball, but he’ll contribute any way he can

With how Davante Adams shook Chargers cornerback Asante Samuel Jr. off the line of scrimmage for a significant pass completion on Sunday, and the way the play later blew up on social media, it’s easy to focus solely on how Adams made Samuels look silly.

But another nice effort also unfolded on that play. While it went overlooked, for the most part, Adams wasn’t about to let the good deed go unnoticed.

Hence the motivation he felt to reach out to running back Josh Jacobs, who hustled downfield to make a key block on Chargers safety Derwin James to free up Adams for some extra yards.

Adams didn’t pick up on it in real time. But upon watching the video, he couldn’t help but notice the big assist from Jacobs. On the play, Jacobs hustled to get out in front of Adams and then picked off James to create a little more running room.

It wasn’t the biggest play of the game, but the mindset, hustle and awareness required are the type of characteristics good teams are built upon.

Adams has played on a bunch of good teams in Green Bay, And while it’s one thing to notice it, the mere act of acknowledging it goes a long way. Jacobs appreciated the shout-out.

“It was funny because Davante actually hit me up after the game and was, like, ‘I seen that. I didn’t peep that in the game,’” Jacobs recounted. “And I was like, ‘yeah bro, we’re trying to get you right.’”

Full disclosure, it wasn’t the only response Jacobs had for Adams. In fact, he jokingly told him: “You’re lucky I like you. Because I ran like 30 yards.”

In all seriousness, as part of Jacobs’ constant pursuit of figuring out different ways to help the Raiders, he takes considerable pride in the block he delivered. Particularly in a game like on Sunday when the score and pace of the afternoon pushed the Raiders away from their run game.

That left Jacobs searching for ways to still lend a hand. With the run game almost completely deactivated, he got down and dirty in the block game.

“It’s one of those things that, the little things that a lot of people don’t notice, but it’s kind of a staple of what we want to be as a team,” Jacobs said.

It’s been a constant message delivered by Raiders coach Josh McDaniels almost from the moment he was hired. McDaniels continually stresses how important the little things are, not just in games but in the big picture of a full season.

From the willingness to doing to dirty work to the Raiders immediately putting the Chargers’ loss in perspective and turning their full attention to the Cardinals, good signs are emerging.

All that said, the biggest role Jacobs can play is as the featured running back. The pace, flow and score of Sunday’s game sabotaged that plan.

He ran only 10 times, and for a rhythm back like he is, that wasn’t nearly enough to get rolling. Ideally, Jacobs like to get six good carries in through the early part of the game to get in sync. Interestingly, it’s not so much the running as it is the physicality.

“To get hit like six times, and then it’s like, I’m in the flow of the game,” Jacobs said.

It’s hard to explain, but Jacobs needs to get banged around a little bit before he gets rolling. He and his fellow running backs were actually trying to put their finger on it earlier in the week.

“It’s been times where we’ve had that first carry, and kind of break it, but it still doesn’t feel right,” Jacobs said. “Even with a long run. I’m not going to lie. I need to get hit.”

Depending on the pace of Sunday’s home opener against the Cardinals, Jacobs hopes to get that process out of the way early. If not, he’ll figure out a way to make his presence felt.

“If I’m not running the ball, can I catch the ball?” Jacobs said. “If the receivers have the ball, can I go downfield and block for them? How can I contribute? That’s the biggest thing I look for.”

Contact Vincent Bonsignore at vbonsignore@reviewjournal.com. Follow @VinnyBonsignore on Twitter.