BEREA, Ohio (AP) — Green Bay's Josh Jacobs would put himself in an elite group of running backs if he reaches the end zone on Sunday at Cleveland.
Jacobs could become the fifth back in NFL history to rush for a touchdown in 12 straight games, including the playoffs.
“I don’t really know too much about it,” Jacobs said Thursday about the streak. “It’s definitely a great honor, but I don’t really too much dig into it or look into it. I’m more concerned with wins or losses, for real.”
The last player with a 12-game run of rushing TDs was LaDainian Tomlinson for the San Diego Chargers in 2004.
The others to do it were John Riggins (15 straight in 1983), Emmitt Smith (14 in 1995 and 13 from 1994-95) and George Rogers (13 in 1985-86).
The Browns are allowing 2.1 yards per carry and have held opposing ballcarriers to no gain or negative yardage on 10 of 36 designed runs. That 27.8% rate is fourth highest in the league. The Packers have been stuffed on only seven carries, a rate of 14.3% that's sixth lowest in the NFL.
“He’s a very powerful runner. He runs with a lot of effort, too, and so for us it’s the first guy in being able to hold him up and then we got to rally to the ball,” Browns rookie linebacker Carson Schwesinger said.
Jacobs and the Packers are seeking their first 3-0 start since 2020. Green Bay hasn’t trailed in either of its games and has built 17-3 leads in wins over Detroit and Washington. Jordan Love has not thrown an interception in his last eight regular-season games.
“I think we’re always confident. Every week is obviously a new journey. First road game, so it’s gonna be a test,” Love said.
Cleveland is 0-2 for the first time since 2017, when it became the second team in NFL history to go 0-16. The Browns have held the lead for only 4 minutes, 32 seconds — fourth-lowest in the league — and that happened in their opener against the Bengals.
While the Packers are rolling in all three phases, the Browns have struggled on offense and special teams, despite the defense allowing the fewest yards in the league.
Last week at Baltimore, a blocked punt and pair of turnovers resulted in 21 points for the Ravens and a 41-17 loss.
“You have to stay on the field and score points, and certainly have not scored enough points the last couple games. And it’s really incumbent on us as a team to play complementary team ball,” coach Kevin Stefanski said. “Of course, we would like to play well on all three sides of the ball, and there’s opportunities to always do that, but we have to play really good, complementary team ball.”
Sunday's matchup features two of the league's best pass rushers in All-Pros Myles Garrett and Micah Parsons. Since Parsons came into the league in 2021, Garrett has an NFL-best 63 1/2 sacks, while Parsons is fifth with 54.
Garrett is tied for the league sack lead with New Orleans' Carl Granderson at 3 1/2, tied for fifth with five quarterback hits and tied for 11th with nine QB pressures.
“He’s a game-wrecker. Yeah, you’ve got to be really intentional about what you’re trying to get done, because if you have a bad matchup, forget about it. This guy can make it ugly in a hurry," Packers coach Matt LaFleur said.
Parsons' snaps have been limited since he was acquired from Dallas on Aug. 27, but he has 1 1/2 sacks and is tied for fifth with 11 pressures.
“We have to expect him to be anywhere. He could be off the ball. He can be on either side, he can be up the middle. So, there’s really no telling on where they can utilize him, especially in a small sample size,” Stefanski said.
Green Bay tight end Tucker Kraft hurt his knee in practice Thursday.
Kraft had six catches for a career-high 124 yards last week and has scored a touchdown in each of Green Bay’s first two games. If Kraft is unable to play, it likely would result in more playing time for Luke Musgrave, who has three catches for 36 yards this season.
Wide receiver Jayden Reed is out with a broken collarbone. That could mean more opportunities for rookie first-round pick Matthew Golden and third-round selection Savion Williams. Neither player caught a pass against the Commanders.
“We’ve got a lot of guys in that receiver room who can step up, who’ve played a lot of good minutes and this won’t be their first time getting in there,” Love said. “So just got to keep leaning on those other guys and guys got to step up and keep making plays, but we got a deep receiver room, so it won’t be too big of an issue.”
Joe Flacco has been responsible for all four of the Browns' turnovers (three interceptions, one fumble). Flacco has also struggled to find any semblance of a downfield passing game, going 11 of 28 on throws of at least 10 air yards. Flacco's 70.1 passer rating on downfield throws is fourth worst of QBs who have played two games.
“He understands the way we’re built and how we want to have success. So, it’s something we continue to reiterate and, you don’t want to stifle him to make throws and make good plays,” offensive coordinator Tommy Rees said. “But you want him to recognize, for any player, like, ‘Hey, these are the looks that we want those big plays to occur. When we don’t get that, this is the answer.’”
AP Sports Writer Steve Megargee in Milwaukee contributed to this report.
AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/nfl
Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow, left, is tackled by Cleveland Browns defensive end Myles Garrett (95) during the first half of an NFL football game Sunday, Sept. 7, 2025, in Cleveland. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki)
Green Bay Packers defensive end Micah Parsons (1) rushes Detroit Lions quarterback Jared Goff (16) during the first half of an NFL football game Sunday, Sept. 7, 2025, in Green Bay, Wis. (AP Photo/Morry Gash)
Green Bay Packers running back Josh Jacobs (8) celebrates his three-yard touchdown with Matthew Golden (0) and quarterback Jordan Love (10) against the Detroit Lions during the second half of an NFL football game Sunday, Sept. 7, 2025, in Green Bay, Wis. (AP Photo/Morry Gash)
HAVANA (AP) — Cuban soldiers wearing white gloves marched out of a plane on Thursday carrying urns with the remains of the 32 Cuban officers killed during a stunning U.S. attack on Venezuela as trumpets and drums played solemnly at Havana's airport.
Nearby, thousands of Cubans lined one of the Havana’s most iconic streets to await the bodies of colonels, lieutenants, majors and captains as the island remained under threat by the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump.
The shoes of Cuban soldiers clacked as they marched stiff-legged into the headquarters of the Ministry of the Armed Forces, next to Revolution Square, with the urns and placed them on a long table next to the pictures of those slain so people could pay their respects.
Thursday’s mass funeral was only one of a handful that the Cuban government has organized in almost half a century.
Hours earlier, state television showed images of more than a dozen wounded people accompanied by Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez arriving Wednesday night from Venezuela. Some were in wheelchairs.
The official announcer indicated that they were “combatants” who had been “wounded” in Venezuela. They were greeted by the Minister of the Interior, Lázaro Alberto Álvarez, and the Minister of the Revolutionary Armed Forces, Álvaro López Miera.
Those injured and the bodies of those killed arrived as tensions grow between Cuba and U.S., with President Donald Trump recently demanding that the Caribbean country make a deal with him before it is “too late.” He did not explain what kind of deal.
Trump also has said that Cuba will no longer live off Venezuela's money and oil. Experts warn that the abrupt end of oil shipments could be catastrophic for Cuba, which is already struggling with serious blackouts and a crumbling power grid.
Officials unfurled a massive flag at Havana's airport as President Miguel Díaz-Canel, clad in military garb as commander of Cuba's Armed Forces, stood silent next to former President Raúl Castro, with what appeared to be the relatives of those slain looking on nearby.
Cuban Interior Minister Lázaro Alberto Álvarez Casa said Venezuela was not a distant land for those killed, but a “natural extension of their homeland.”
“The enemy speaks to an audience of high-precision operations, of troops, of elites, of supremacy,” Álvarez said in apparent reference to the U.S. “We, on the other hand, speak of faces, of families who have lost a father, a son, a husband, a brother.”
Álvarez called those slain “heroes,” saying that they were example of honor and “a lesson for those who waver.”
“We reaffirm that if this painful chapter of history has demonstrated anything, it is that imperialism may possess more sophisticated weapons; it may have immense material wealth; it may buy the minds of the wavering; but there is one thing it will never be able to buy: the dignity of the Cuban people,” he said.
Thousands of Cubans lined a street where motorcycles and military vehicles thundered by with the remains of those killed.
“They are people willing to defend their principles and values, and we must pay tribute to them,” said Carmen Gómez, a 58-year-old industrial designer, adding that she hopes no one invades given the ongoing threats.
When asked why she showed up despite the difficulties Cubans face, Gómez replied, "It’s because of the sense of patriotism that Cubans have, and that will always unite us.”
Cuba recently released the names and ranks of 32 military personnel — ranging in age from 26 to 60 — who were part of the security detail of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro during the raid on his residence on January 3. They included members of the Revolutionary Armed Forces and the Ministry of the Interior, the island’s two security agencies.
Cuban and Venezuelan authorities have said that the uniformed personnel were part of protection agreements between the two countries.
Meanwhile, a demonstration was planned for Friday across from the U.S. Embassy in an open-air forum known as the Anti-Imperialist Tribune. Officials have said they expect the demonstration to be massive.
“People are upset and hurt. There’s a lot of talk on social media; but many do believe that the dead are martyrs” of a historic struggle against the United States, analyst and former diplomat Carlos Alzugaray told The Associated Press.
In October 1976, then-President Fidel Castro led a massive demonstration to bid farewell to the 73 people killed in the bombing of a Cubana de Aviación civilian flight financed by anti-revolutionary leaders living in the U.S. Most of the victims were Cuban athletes returning to their island.
In December 1989, officials organized “Operation Tribute” to honor the remains of more than 2,000 Cuban combatants who died in Angola during Cuba’s participation in the war that defeated the South African army and ended the apartheid system. In October 1997, memorial services were held following the arrival of the remains of guerrilla commander Ernesto “Che” Guevara and six of his comrades, who died in 1967.
A day before the remains of those slain arrived in Cuba, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced $3 million in relief aid to help the island recover from the catastrophic Hurricane Melissa, which struck in late October.
The first flight took off from Florida on Wednesday, and a second flight was scheduled for Friday. A commercial vessel also will deliver food and other supplies.
“We have taken extraordinary measures to ensure that this assistance reaches the Cuban people directly, without interference or diversion by the illegitimate regime,” Rubio said, adding that the U.S. government was working with Cuba's Catholic Church.
The announcement riled Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez.
“The U.S. government is exploiting what appears to be a humanitarian gesture for opportunistic and politically manipulative purposes,” he said in a statement. “As a matter of principle, Cuba does not oppose assistance from governments or organizations, provided it benefits the people and the needs of those affected are not used for political gain under the guise of humanitarian aid.”
Coto contributed from San Juan, Puerto Rico.
Workers fly the Cuban flag at half-staff at the Anti-Imperialist Tribune near the U.S. Embassy in Havana, Cuba, Monday, Jan. 5, 2026, in memory of Cubans who died two days before in Caracas, Venezuela during the capture of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro by U.S. forces. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)
