North Melbourne tagger Ben Jacobs has started a modified training schedule as he continues to recover from concussion-like symptoms.

Widely considered one of the AFL’s best taggers, Jacobs hasn’t played since Round 16, 2018 but Rhyce Shaw says things are on the improve.

“It’s a very tough situation for Benny. He’s shown a lot of courage,” Shaw told SEN.

“It’s a real hard one. You get a bit emotional talking about it because you see the fight he goes through every single day to get himself up.

“He’s in a really good spot now, he’s starting to do a bit of running, he’s joined in some stationary skills with us and he’s on a path that may take a little bit longer than people want but for me it’s more about his life than footy and he’s getting better, so that’s the main thing.”

The problems started for the 27-year-old midfielder after suffering whiplash in a sling tackle against Brisbane in Round 11, 2018.

“At the time of the whiplash incident, I remember my neck being really sore,” he said on the Powershop Players’ Podcast earlier this year.

“Each week I was like, ‘can I play?’ and I literally did the main session two or three times, expecting to somehow play, and I wasn’t able to for a number of weeks there.

“We treated it like a concussion for the first four or five weeks … (then) I had a sinus operation … and I burnt a nerve off in my neck.”