FOXBOROUGH, Mass. -- Green Bay Packers running back Josh Jacobs broke the ring finger on his right hand while trying to stiff-arm a defender during the first quarter of Sunday's 45-27 romp over the New England Patriots and is unsure if he'll be able to play next week against the Minnesota Vikings.
Jacobs twice went to the locker room to see if something could be done to protect his hand while still playing. At first, the Packers' medical staff tried to tape it, but when they didn't feel comfortable with that, they tried a cast.
Even with that, Jacobs never returned.
"We was just trying to figure out a way if I can still go, and the biggest thing is just being able to grip the ball," said Jacobs, who had just 5 yards rushing on four carries. "Catching is obviously gonna be tough, but just being able to grip the ball, but we gon' see. We don't really know -- I know it's broke, but I don't know the extent."
The injury happened at the end of a 2-yard run on which Jacobs extended his right arm to fend off Craig Woodson and appeared to get his hand caught in the Patriots safety's facemask. Jacobs could be seen looking down at his hand at the end of the play.
He later said he actually saw a bone sticking out of his finger and popped it back into place.
"Hopefully we can do something to allow him to go out there," Packers coach Matt LaFleur said. "But he was just having a hard time gripping the ball."
The Packers were already without running back MarShawn Lloyd, who was inactive because of a knee injury.
Nevertheless, behind 68 yards on 14 carries from Kaleb Johnson, they rushed for 129 yards on 32 carries -- breaking the 100-yard rushing mark for the first time in nine games this season.
Johnson, who has been a healthy scratch twice this season after fumbling early in the year, had the Packers' longest run of the season, a 34-yard gain in the fourth quarter.
"I feel like this is a little thing of what I can do when I get comfortable with the system and get familiar with the system," said Johnson, who was acquired in a trade from the Steelers on Aug. 30.
Pierre Strong Jr. added 22 yards on eight carries, and quarterback Jordan Love had a 13-yard touchdown run.
Before Sunday, the Packers had eight straight games with fewer than 90 yards rushing, the longest streak by any team to begin a season since the 1990 Colts (10) and tied for the third-longest streak to start a season in NFL history, according to ESPN Research.
The Packers (6-3) came into the game averaging just 60.6 yards rushing, the fewest by any team that had a winning record through eight games in NFL history.
But this was a day the Packers might not have needed to run the ball in large part because Love (372 yards passing, three touchdowns) had one of his best games and receivers Christian Watson (seven catches for 171 yards and a TD) and Matthew Golden (10 catches for 164 yards and a TD) were the first Packers' pair with 150 receiving yards and a touchdown in the same game since 1942.
Jacobs wasn't the only Packers player who couldn't finish the game. Linebacker Ty'Ron Hopper left the game because of a chest injury and was replaced by Nick Niemann. Hopper had been filling in because the Packers lost linebackers Edgerrin Cooper and Zaire Franklin earlier in the season.
The Packers (6-3) have a key NFC North home game against Minnesota next Sunday.