Malik Willis’ success as Green Bay’s backup quarterback last season was a case of a good guy’s hard work being rewarded, Packers Pro Bowl running back Josh Jacobs said.

The players were on opposite sidelines for two Iron Bowls – with Jacobs at Alabama and Willis at Auburn for the Tigers’ 26-14 victory on Nov. 25, 2017, and the Crimson Tide’s 52-21 victory on Nov. 24, 2018.

Green Bay acquired Willis in a trade with the Tennessee Titans the day after the 2024 preseason ended. The Titans replaced Willis as their backup QB with Mason Rudolph while the Packers were faced with choosing between Sean Clifford and Michael Pratt to back up Jordan Love.

In two seasons with Tennessee, Willis completed 35-of-66 passes for 350 yards with no touchdowns and three interceptions and ran for 144 yards and one touchdown on 32 carries in 11 games, with three starts.

Nineteen days after his first practice with the Packers, Willis started for Green Bay. Willis paced the Packers to a 16-10 victory over the Indianapolis Colts and a 30-14 victory over the Titans while a knee injury had Love out of the lineup.

Willis wound up playing in seven games in 2024. He completed 40-of-54 passes for 550 yards with three touchdowns and no interceptions and ran for 138 yards and one touchdown on 20 carries.

Jacobs said Willis’ sudden success was “just a testament to him.”

“Malik, great dude first and foremost,” Jacobs said during a recent appearance on the “Bussin’ with the Boys” podcast. “Hard worker. Never shines the light on himself. Always gives the light to somebody else. He’s just one of those guys that you genuinely will be friends with for the rest of your life. …

“When you’re a good person, bro, and you work hard, I feel everything else takes care of itself, and he’s just one of them dudes. We had this talk. I literally told him, I said, ‘Man, you keep putting this on film, you might have some teams really trying to come get you. I don’t know how long you’re going to be here because you’re playing so good. You’re playing at a high level. Maybe you’re going to get another chance at it.’

“I hope he do. I think he definitely deserves another chance to compete for that spot for sure.”

Jacobs said Willis’ ability to step into the lineup so quickly also was a testament to coach Matt LaFleur and his staff.

“(Willis) said, ‘Bro, this is the first time I ever felt like I’m getting taught how to play, like, for real,’” Jacobs said. “He said, ‘The way that they’re breaking it down to me and simplified things for me, I feel like I can just play again. I feel like I’m in college. Like, I could just play.’ The fans even were kind of like, ‘Damn.’ Nobody expected him to play as good as he did, and he really balled. Like every game he played in, bro, he balled.”

As Jarrett Stidham‘s backup at Auburn, Willis completed 11-of-14 passes for 69 yards with one touchdown and no interceptions and ran for 309 yards and two touchdowns on 28 carries in 2017 and 2018. After transferring to Liberty, Willis completed 377-of-604 passes for 5,107 yards with 47 touchdowns and 18 interceptions and ran for 1,822 yards and 27 touchdowns on 338 carries in two seasons before joining the Titans as a third-round selection in the 2022 NFL Draft.

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After coming aboard as an NFL free agent, Jacobs started every game in his first season with Green Bay. He ran for 1,329 yards and 15 touchdowns on 301 carries and caught 36 passes for 342 yards and one touchdown as he earned his third Pro Bowl selection.

Jacobs powered the Packers to an 11-6 regular-season record, and he’s looking forward to a better season in 2025.

“When you got a lot of young guys — we was the youngest team in the NFL last year – it’s a lot of hunger, which I love,” Jacobs said. “It’s a lot of guys that are still coachable, still willing to put in the work each day. And to have them type of guys with another year’s worth of experience and then, obviously, we added some pieces …

“I think we’re going to be straight man. I tell people all the time we played the Eagles better than any other team that I seen, and that was just me watching football and scouting. I’m like: We gave them the best run for their money than any other team. I think we’re there, but we’re just a few pieces away, and we got to figure it out.”

Philadelphia defeated Green Bay 22-10 in the first round of the NFC playoffs on the Eagles’ way to winning Super Bowl LIX.

“A lot of our problems last year, especially toward the end of the year, half our team was hurt,” Jacobs said. “If we’d have won against the Eagles, that next game we would have got blew out because half our team wouldn’t have played. We stay healthy, we build that callous mentally and physically, we’re going to figure it out. We build that stamina, we’re going to figure it out, for sure.”

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Mark Inabinett is a sports reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on X at @AMarkG1.