Realistic modeling of medium-jet interactions in heavy ion collisions is becoming increasingly important to successfully predict jet structure and shape observables. In JEWEL, all partons belonging to the parton showers initiated by hard scattered partons undergo collisions with thermal partons from the medium, leading to both elastic and radiative energy loss. The recoiling medium partons carry away energy and momentum from the jet. Since the thermal component of these recoils momenta is part of the soft background activity, comparison with data requires the implementation of a subtraction procedure. We present two independent procedures through which background subtraction can be performed and discuss the impact of the medium recoil on jet shape observables. Keeping track of the medium response significantly improves the JEWEL description of jet shape measurements.