It sure looked as if the career of Brandon Jacobs had come to an end when he never hit it off with the 49ers last season and spent the entire spring and summer out of football. The Giants gave him a reprieve, though, and Jacobs made a contribution before his body gave out on him.
Jacobs on Tuesday was put on season-ending injured reserve as a lingering knee issue never got much better. It certainly appears likely the NFL career of the 31-year old running back has come to an end. If so, the last the Giants saw of Jacobs was him running through and over the Cowboys for 75 yards on only nine rushing attempts in a 24-21 loss on Nov. 24. Jacobs will need surgery to fix up his knee, and there’s little chance he will be able to return to NFL form.
Linebacker Marcus Dowtin, a second-year player from North Alabama, was signed off the practice squad to fill Jacobs’ spot on the active roster.
Jacobs was signed after the first game this season and was absolutely thrilled to be back with the Giants after a one-season defection to the 49ers. Jacobs played in seven games and had his moments. He made his first and only start Oct. 10 in Chicago and came away with his most productive game in three years, rushing 22 times for 106 yards and two touchdowns in a 27-21 loss to the Bears. Jacobs missed five games, first with a strained hamstring, later with a swollen knee. He finished with 238 yards and four touchdowns.
If this is it for Jacobs, he ends with 5,087 rushing yards, the fourth-highest total in Giants history, behind Tiki Barber, Rodney Hampton and Joe Morris. Jacobs’ 60 rushing touchdowns are the most in Giants history.
Jacobs last week admitted he was frustrated by the knee injury, but again expressed his appreciation for the Giants giving him a chance to return to the team that drafted him in 2005, the team that gave a shot to a linebacker-sized running back who ended up helping win two Super Bowls.
“There is no place in the National Football League I’d rather be than 1925 Giants Drive. Nowhere,” Jacobs said last week. “We could have went 0-16, I would be happy and smiling in this locker room because I’m a Giant at heart. I love this organization. I love these fans. I love that ‘NY.’ There is not a better place for me. I’d rather be here than go somewhere and be undefeated. This is where I belong.”
In other moves, the Giants terminated the practice squad contract of linebacker Darin Drakeford and signed defensive end Kendrick Adams and defensive back Chaz Powell to the practice squad.