HENDERSON, Nev. -- There were times early last season, behind a reimagined and oft-leaky offensive line, when Josh Jacobs would look at game film and ask aloud, "What do you want me to do?"

Stuffed at the line of scrimmage, there were no holes for Jacobs to run through. No lanes. No daylight. No, well, opportunities for the Las Vegas Raiders running back.

And yet Jacobs would love to have that production this year.

Consider: Jacobs averaged 4.6 yards per carry in rushing for 192 yards without a touchdown in his first three games last season. Through three games this year, after sitting out the entirety of the Raiders' offseason program, training camp and the exhibition season in a contract stalemate, Jacobs carried the ball 45 times and gained 108 yards, a 2.4 yards per carry average, and did not score.

In fact, in rushing for minus-2 yards in nine attempts in a Week 2 blowout loss at the Buffalo Bills, Jacobs became the first reigning rushing champion to run for negative yards in a game since the AFL-NFL merger in 1970.

What to do?

Maybe Jacobs can lean on what happened in the second quarter of last season -- when the offensive line gelled and he took off en route to finishing with 1,653 rushing yards and becoming the first Raiders back to lead the NFL in rushing since Marcus Allen in 1985 -- starting with Monday night's game against the Green Bay Packers (8:15 p.m. ET, ABC/ESPN/ESPN+).

In Game 4 last year, Jacobs ran over and around the Denver Broncos to the tune of 144 yards and two TDs. It was the first of three straight games with at least 140 rushing yards.

Last week, Jacobs had 139 total yards of offense against the Los Angeles Chargers, rushing for 58 yards and his first TD of the season and catching eight passes for a career-high 81 yards.

Then there's this -- the Packers have given up 621 rushing yards through four games, the third-most in the NFL.

"I think it's just about taking the time for everybody to be on the same page, and everybody be dialed into what we've got to do," Jacobs said. "And every given play, we've got to do that."

Easier said than done, no?

Whether he has been affected by his holdout or not, or an offensive line that returned four of five starters still getting its sea legs, Jacobs' early season lack of production has been alarming. Especially for an All-Pro running back.

After the Week 3 loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers, Jacobs' average yards per carry before contact was minus-0.1, per Next Gen Stats, meaning he was getting hit before reaching the line of scrimmage.

He is now up to 1.21 yards before contact per rush after having 1.88 yards before contact last week against the Chargers.

The 1.21 figure ranks 46th out of 48 qualified running backs this season, per ESPN Stats & Information, ahead of only the New York Jets' Dalvin Cook (1.13) and the Packers' AJ Dillon (0.91). The only other Raiders back with a carry, Zamir White, is averaging 3.38 yards before contact per rush on his eight carries.

Compare that to NFL leaders De'Von Achane (8.63) of the Miami Dolphins and the Jets' Breece Hall (5.19), and it's easy to see how much work Jacobs and the Raiders offensive line has in front of them to replicate last season's success.

Raiders left tackle Kolton Miller saw flashes of it against the Chargers.

"It's a process, it's frustrating at times, but it's just something that you've got to keep pushing and finding ways to make those plays open up, so that's the challenge," Miller said. "Each week, every defense has its wrinkle, so [we're] just trying to take those details and, again, what we're emphasizing during the week and how they play and how we want to fit and roll off the ball, is what we're going to try to do.

"We do decide how we're going to fit and how we're going to ID the front and making sure everyone's on the same page, and when we do that, we'll have success."

Like the modicum of relative success Jacobs had against the Chargers, even as Jacobs has had just one 10-yard rush this season (the Raiders have totaled an NFL-low three rushes of at least 10 yards). In comparison, 72 players already have multiple 10-plus-yard rushes thus far, with the San Francisco 49ers' Christian McCaffrey leading the NFL with 14 rushes of at least 10 yards.

"Absolutely, it juices everyone up and seeing [Josh] having it, we're not at where we want to be yet, but finding those wins or that progress is huge," Miller added.

Through four games last year, Jacobs was averaging 2.07 yards before contact per rush and had eight 10-yard rushes, with 11.4% of his rushes going for at least 10 yards in the first four games last year. This year, only 1.6% of his rushes have gone for 10-plus yards.

Jacobs' yards after contact are also down from last year, from 2.73 through four games last season to 1.47 this season.

Getting Jacobs more involved in the passing game may also be a way to open running lanes for him. His eight receptions against the Chargers were one off the career-high nine he had against Washington on Dec. 5, 2021.

"I mean, I've just been waiting on it," Jacobs said with a smile. "I feel like I came into the league and I was known for catching the ball, so it was never really something that was hard to do. It was just more so about getting the opportunity to do it. So being able to go out there and so that I could do it, it is cool, I guess."

"Those are extensions of the running game," Raiders coach Josh McDaniels said. "It's not run plays ... but every time we get it to him, whether we hand it to him, throw it to him, toss it to him, screen it to him, to me, those are good plays and good opportunities for him to make plays with the ball in his hands and use his ability in space.

"He's done a good job of whatever we've asked him to do, and he's going to continue to work at putting this whole thing together so that we can keep running it better."