With his contract issues behind him, running back Josh Jacobs practiced with the Las Vegas Raiders on Wednesday for the first time since the end of the 2022 season. But the NFL rushing champion said he’d be ready when the Raiders kick off their 2023 season on Sept. 10 against the Denver Broncos.

“Physically, I ain’t missed a step, so I definitely can say that,” Jacobs said after practice on Wednesday. “The biggest thing that for me really was coming back and mentally just with the playbook and everything. With the new plays and all of that, I didn’t want to be behind. But when I came in today, man, I didn’t have no errors. I came in today and I was like, ‘Oh, yeah, I remember this. I remember this,’ so now it’s just about stacking days. To me, we came out with the workout plan to do over the course of while I wasn’t here, and I came in and it didn’t feel like I missed a step.”

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The former Alabama ball-carrier won the NFL rushing crown in 2022 as he ran for 1,653 yards and 12 touchdowns on 340 carries. He also led the league in yards from scrimmage with another 400 yards on 53 receptions.

Despite not participating in Las Vegas’ offseason program, training camp or the preseason, Jacobs expects to be better in 2023.

“Like I said at the end of the year, I feel like there was a lot I still left on the field,” Jacobs said. “I know that’s kind of hard to say with the year I had, but it was a lot I definitely left on the field. Just to come back and see the O-line another year in this system and how much of an improvement they have made since I came back, man, it’s been crazy. It’s just gotten me re-excited, honestly.”

Jacobs stayed away from the team while trying to work out his contract for the 2023 season.

The impasse began when Las Vegas used its franchise tag to prevent Jacobs from becoming a free agent in March. The franchise tag guaranteed Jacobs a $10.091 million payday for the 2023 season and gave the team and player until July 17 to work out a multi-year deal.

They failed to do so, and Jacobs never signed the franchise-tag tender. Once the deadline passed, NFL rules prohibited the Raiders from offering Jacobs anything but a one-year contract.

In the end, Jacobs signed a contract that has $10.091 million in guaranteed money – the value of the franchise tag. But the contract also will pay Jacobs $100,000 per game that he’s on Las Vegas’ game-day roster, and it has another $200,000 available in incentives.

Jacobs got a $2.5 million signing bonus, which leaves $7.591 million as his base salary for the 2023 season. With another $1.9 million available in participation and performance incentives, Jacobs could earn $11.991 million.

“I think it went pretty good for both parties, honestly,” Jacobs said. “One of the hardest things in football to do is watch, at least for a guy like me. And so I was itching to get back, man, so just to be able to come and make it make sense for both parties, it was definitely huge. …

“You want to grind with your guys, especially knowing there’s a lot of new guys coming in. You want the guys to know who you are and respect what you do, respect your work. And that was just the biggest thing – not being able to have that camaraderie. But I wouldn’t say it was just all negative. Being home allowed me to spend a lot more time with my kids, help my dad do his diet plans and get in shape and things like that, so it was pros and cons on both sides.

“But at the end of the day, I wanted to play football. I wanted to be here with the guys, so I’m just glad it worked out.”

Jacobs said he had no animosity toward the organization over the contract situation.

“We’re here,” Jacobs said. “I feel like we made it happen, so it ain’t no hard feelings now. I feel like, like I said, we made it happen, so it’s a clean slate. With me, it was never really just like no hate on each side. I understood it. But at the same time, I understood my value, too, so it was just about meeting in the middle.”

Despite Jacobs’ production in 2022, the Raiders posted a 6-11 season in their first season under coach Josh McDaniels. But Jacobs said what he’d seen of the Raiders so far has him “really excited for the season.”

“We got a lot faster,” Jacobs said. “I definitely seen that. We got a lot faster. We got a lot of guys that love the game, and we got a lot of guys with high IQs, and that’s just the first thing I’ve noticed.”

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