Raiders need Josh Jacobs to stay healthy

Josh Jacobs set a Raiders rookie rushing record last year with 1,150 yards. By all accounts, it was a breakthrough season. But Jacobs wasn’t impressed.

“I would grade it a ‘B,’” Jacobs said when asked to give himself a letter grade. “There’s a lot of yards that I felt like I left on the table.”

Jacobs is in position to elevate his game. The key now is staying healthy after missing three of the Raiders’ last four games in 2019 with a shoulder injury.

It’s part of the reason the Raiders kept a close eye on Jacobs’ workload during training camp, a plan that could extend into the season.

“He’s got to stay healthy,” Raiders head coach Jon Gruden said. “We need our feature back down the stretch. We were in a playoff stretch last year and didn’t have him. … We have to get more out of him in the passing game, more on the field on third down.”

One area Jacobs hopes to improve is as a pass-catcher. He caught 20 passes for 166 yards as a rookie and hopes to reach 60 receptions in his sophomore season. It was an area of focus throughout the offseason.

“I worked on a lot of things that receivers do,” Jacobs said. “Not necessarily just running back routes. … I’ve just been working on all the technically little things that receivers do. Just trying to implement that into my own style and bring what I can to the table.”

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