J.C. Jackson

Free Agency Notes: Queen, Seahawks, Packers, Panthers, Pats, Jackson, Bengals

March 10th, 2024 at 10:26pm CST by Sam Robinson

The Ravens’ Roquan Smith payment always made it likely Patrick Queen would need to collect his money elsewhere. Now that Queen’s most recent defensive coordinator landed a coaching job, a logical fit has emerged. Indeed, many executives predicted (via the Washington Post’s Jason La Canfora) Queen would wind up reunited with Mike Macdonald in Seattle. With the Seahawks likely to again part ways with Bobby Wagner, spots are open. Jordyn Brooks, who joined Queen as a 2020 first-round LB pick, is also on the cusp of free agency. Queen is coming off his best season — a Pro Bowl showing alongside Smith — and turned a corner once the Bears trade commenced last year.

Checking in eighth on PFR’s top 50 free agents list (before the Chris Jones and Baker Mayfield deals), Queen could be in line to rival what Tremaine Edmunds received ($18MM per year, $41.8MM fully guaranteed) last year and land a top-five ILB contract. Barely 12 hours from the legal tampering period, here is the latest from the free agent scene:

Not known for splashy signings, the Packers do look like they are ready to upgrade at one position on the market. Green Bay appears likely to look at the top safeties available, ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler notes. Although several veteran safeties became street free agents due to recent cuts (Justin Simmons, Jamal Adams, Quandre Diggs and Jordan Poyer among them), this saturated market does include two young guns that should be paid well soon. It would not shock to see the Pack pursue Xavier McKinney and Kamren Curl, Fowler adds. Both safeties are going into their age-25 seasons, which could separate them on a crowded market.
The Panthers released Bradley Bozeman today, and while they will look for a center, expect a guard pursuit as well. This year’s market is big on guards, and The Athletic’s Joe Person writes the Panthers want to upgrade at a guard spot this offseason. Carolina lost both its starting guards — Brady Christensen, Austin Corbett — to major injuries last season, representing one of the many issues on offense in Bryce Young‘s rookie year. The team does not consider Ikem Ekwonu an option. Despite the 2022 first-rounder playing guard at points in college, ESPN.com’s David Newton indicates the new coaching staff is keeping him at left tackle.
The Patriots are open to bringing back J.C. Jackson, according to Sportskeeda.com’s Tony Pauline. Jackson’s season ended early after the team placed the veteran cornerback on the reserve/NFI list. Should Jackson move past the mental health struggles that wrapped his first season back in New England, Pauline adds the team is open to another reunion despite last week’s release.
Seeing a revolving door form at right tackle (Bobby Hart, Riley Reiff, La’el Collins, Jonah Williams) over the past four years, the Bengals want that to stop. They may be ready to take a two-pronged approach by adding a veteran and a potential rookie heir apparent. “We would like to have somebody man the right tackle spot for a number of years, yes,” player personnel director Duke Tobin said (via The Athletic’s Paul Dehner Jr.). “We’d like it to be a young guy that can come in and do that or a veteran that might have the opportunity to rebuild his career, something. But yes, we would like that to be manned on multiple fronts. But we’re focused with having it manned well enough to provide us a chance to win next year. That’s the No. 1 thing.” Williams is a free agent, and given the market he might have — as a chance to move to left tackle may await — it is unlikely the 2019 first-round pick is back in Cincinnati.

Patriots Release CB J.C. Jackson

March 1st, 2024 at 3:30pm CST by Sam Robinson

Seeing the Chargers foot most of their J.C. Jackson bill, the Patriots will again separate from the veteran cornerback. They announced Jackson’s release Friday.

Due to the nature of last season’s trade, the Pats will pick up considerable cap room via this transaction. No guarantees remained on Jackson’s deal. Thus, no dead money is on tap; New England will gain $14.38MM in cap space.

Considering the Patriots already led the league in cap space, this will be a notable move. It stands to push their available funds past $100MM. Jackson was due $2MM on March 15, per the Boston Globe’s Ben Volin.

Given Jackson’s rocky 2023 season and the arrangement between the Bolts and Pats, it is unsurprising the AFC East team is moving on. Jackson will head back to free agency, but his stock has tanked two years after signing a top-10 cornerback pact. The Chargers gave Jackson a five-year, $82.5MM deal in 2022. They gave the former UDFA $40MM guaranteed; via the 2023 trade, that will turn into $20.8MM in dead money on the Bolts’ 2024 books.

Bill Belichick did move Jackson back into his starting lineup — weeks after Christian Gonzalez‘s season-ending injury. Although Jackson started six games back in New England, his hurdle-filled 2023 continued. The Pats did not take Jackson to Germany for their Colts matchup, with a curfew violation behind that. They also shut down Jackson early to close the season, citing mental health as the reasoning behind the latter decision.

Jackson did spend much of 2023 rehabbing the ruptured patellar tendon he sustained midway through the 2022 slate in Los Angeles. Jackson’s L.A. debut was not going well, however, and Brandon Staley demoted the high-priced corner early last season. Being a healthy scratch for an early-season Vikings matchup, Jackson was soon traded. He did add one interception to his impressive career total, which now sits at 26, but the 28-year-old defender’s career is at a crossroads.

Showing considerable promise during his first Patriots stint, Jackson went from UDFA — after a turbulent college career that involved some off-field trouble — to regular on the 2018 Patriots’ Super Bowl-winning team. Jackson then totaled 17 interceptions between the 2020 and ’21 seasons. Regularly letting corners walk for bigger paydays elsewhere during Belichick’s tenure, the Pats both passed on a franchise tag and a second contract in 2022. After circling back to Jackson in a borderline emergency circumstance last year, New England is moving on once again.

Mental Health Issues Keep Patriots CB J.C. Jackson From Playing

December 19th, 2023 at 4:15pm CST by Ely Allen

DECEMBER 19: Jackson’s season is now over. The Patriots are placing the recently reacquired cornerback on the reserve/non-football illness list, ESPN’s Field Yates tweets. As this designation sidelines a player for at least four games, Jackson’s next opportunity to suit up will come in September. Jackson’s Chargers-constructed contract runs through 2026, but no guaranteed money remains beyond this year. The Patriots signed running back Kevin Harris from their practice squad to take Jackson’s roster spot.

DECEMBER 17: The Patriots were forced to start rookie cornerback Alex Austin against Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs today when expected starter J.C. Jackson was an unexpected scratch on the active roster today. Jackson’s agent, Neil Schwartz, explained that his client is dealing with mental health issues, per ESPN’s Mike Reiss, a problem Jackson has admitted to in the past.

“I would say, mentally, I’m getting better,” Jackson had said after missing the team’s trip to Germany. “The past year and a half, two years has been up and down for me, mentally. You see us in those little, small helmets, but as we walk out these doors, we’re dealing with reality and what a normal person has to deal with.”

Jackson, once a prized free agent addition for the Chargers after his initial stint in New England, was traded back to the Patriots earlier this year after multiple injuries and a few healthy scratches in Los Angeles. Jackson was almost immediately elevated to a starting position in New England when rookie first-round pick Christian Gonzalez was lost for the year.

Despite a return to prominence with his old team, Jackson still experienced issues. His absence in Germany was the result of discipline for missing multiple “bed checks,” a punishment that he accepted, apologized for, and said he would learn from.

Today’s absence, though, proves that there is still a bit of work to be done by Jackson. The Patriots clearly thought he would be active today, leading them to list backup cornerback Shaun Wade as inactive. This resulted in the team being down two cornerbacks against one of the best quarterbacks in the NFL and forced them to start a rookie seventh-round pick that they signed a month and a half ago. Things went from bad to worse when veteran starter Jonathan Jones left the game with a knee injury, leaving only Austin and slot corner Myles Bryant as the remaining healthy cornerbacks on the roster.

With the Patriots already eliminated from the playoffs, there won’t be any rush to bring Jackson back before he can handle it, or at least, there shouldn’t be. Players are people, too, and it’s been clear for a while now that Jackson is struggling. Today’s inability to play is the latest in a string of adversity for Jackson as he continues to attempt to prioritize his mental health as an NFL player.

AFC East Rumors: Lazard, Carter, Jackson, Montgomery

November 24th, 2023 at 8:30pm CST by Ely Allen

The Jets lost to the Dolphins today in Tim Boyle‘s first start since 2021, and while Boyle failed to provide the offensive spark the team has been searching so desperately for, his arsenal of weapons hardly set him up for success. Part of that was the absence of veteran wide receiver Allen Lazard, who, according to Mike Florio of NBC Sports, was a healthy scratch from today’s game.

Florio relays that Lazard reportedly believes that it is “a one-game thing,” but after only being target once last week, Florio isn’t quite as sure. The report claims that, despite his existing history with injured quarterback Aaron Rodgers and offensive coordinator Nathaniel Hackett, “the internal assessment of Lazard is far from flattering.”

Still, without him, Garrett Wilson saw 10 targets. Jason Brownlee and Xavier Gipson were the only other wide receivers to see targets, while the rest of Boyle’s attempts targeted tight ends and running backs. With Randall Cobb already out for the past four games, New York can hardly afford more missed time from Lazard, as well.

Here are a few other rumors from the AFC East, with another coming from Gang Green:

New York waived a former starter in running back Michael Carter a couple weeks ago. The young rusher had been benched after getting penalized for a chop block and had been buried on the depth chart behind Breece Hall and Dalvin Cook. The hope was that rookie fifth-round pick Israel Abanikanda would be able to step into the third-down role and provide a spark with his speed, per ESPN’s Rich Cimini, but in today’s loss, Abanikanda didn’t register a touch. Hall instead took over the passing downs role, registering nine targets as the Jets were in catch-up mode for most of the contest.
A new update on the drama with Patriots cornerback J.C. Jackson comes straight from Jackson himself, through Mark Daniels of Mass Live. After reports that Jackson failed to show up to the team hotel the night before their game with the Commanders and then subsequently was kept home during the team’s trip to Germany, Jackson explained the situation. Jackson tole Daniels that he had “missed multiple ‘bed checks'” on the night before the Washington game. He was told to stay home from Germany as a punishment, which he claims to have accepted, learned from, and apologized for. In fact, Jackson claims to now be even more appreciative of head coach Bill Belichick, as a result.
We saw New England pick up running back JaMycal Hasty off waivers a couple weeks ago, and with that addition, Mike Reiss of ESPN thinks veteran dual-threat back Ty Montgomery‘s job could be in danger. Hasty has a very similar skill set to Montgomery’s and is three years his junior. Montgomery, on the other hand, spent nearly all of last year on the team’s injured reserve and has seen his offensive contributions dwindle in 2023. Reiss could be right in thinking that Hasty has been brought in to replace Montgomery in the Patriots’ running backs room.

AFC East Notes: Bills, Patriots, Eichenberg

November 17th, 2023 at 12:25pm CST by Sam Robinson

Buffalo-Kansas City has been one of the 2020s’ defining NFL rivalries. The AFC squads have played five times this decade, twice in the playoffs, with the Chiefs’ two postseason wins playing a role in the Bills‘ roster construction. The AFC powers’ plans intersected during the 2022 first round as well. When the Chiefs moved up from No. 29 to No. 21 in the ’22 first round, they took the player the Bills eyed. The Bills sought Trent McDuffie with their top pick last year, per SI.com’s Albert Breer, but the Chiefs were able to make a deal with the Patriots to move in front of Buffalo.

The fallout from this miss became costly for the Bills, whose subsequent trade-up — from No. 25 to No. 23 — produced Kaiir Elam, who has been unable to earn steady playing time. As Elam has vacillated between backup or emergency starter and healthy scratch, McDuffie has progressed in Kansas City. Pro Football Focus rates McDuffie eighth overall among corners; the Washington product has been a central part of the Chiefs’ defensive improvement this season.

Here is the latest from the AFC East:

The Patriots opted not to sell at the trade deadline, keeping the door open for longer-term futures with some of their contract-year players. New England held onto Josh Uche, Michael Onwenu and Kyle Dugger despite interest coming in before the deadline. Dugger has become a player teams are monitoring ahead of free agency, with ESPN.com’s Jeremy Fowler noting some teams view the Division II alum as the 2024 UFA class’ second-best safety — behind the Buccaneers’ Antoine Winfield Jr. This year’s safety market producing only one contract north of $8MM per year (Jessie Bates‘ outlier $16MM-AAV accord) could impact Dugger, but it is clear the former second-round pick will be costly for the Pats to retain.
Benched in Week 9 and left in the States ahead of the Patriots’ Week 10 Germany trip, J.C. Jackson was initially believed to have arrived late at the team hotel the night before the Pats-Commanders game. But the recently reacquired corner did not show up at all that night, ESPN.com’s Mike Reiss notes. Jack Jones missed curfew as well, but Reiss adds the since-waived corner did surface later. Both players were benched for Week 9, and despite Jackson’s unavailability, the Patriots further limited Jones against the Colts. Jackson is expected to remain with the Pats, but the ballhawk has not escaped the rough patch that began last year in Los Angeles.
Trent Brown did not make the trip to Frankfurt for personal reasons, and Reiss adds the veteran tackle’s missed game will affect his recently reworked contract. Including $88K per game in roster bonuses, the Patriots set playing-time thresholds for additional Brown escalators as well. The starting LT would collect $1MM for playing 75% of the team’s offensive snaps this season. Hovering at 75% after Week 9, Brown has now missed two games. The low end of this incentive structure is 65%, which Reiss notes will pay out $750K. He would receive another $750K by hitting the 70% snap barrier.
Dolphins contract-year guard Robert Hunt will miss a second straight game due to a hamstring injury. As a result, Liam Eichenberg will complete a rare NFL feat. The 2021 second-round pick began the week practicing at left guard, his primary 2022 position, but the swingman moved to right guard midway through practice this week, the Miami Herald’s Barry Jackson notes. The Dolphins view Eichenberg as more comfortable there. Once Eichenberg replaces Hunt on Sunday, he will have started at all five O-line positions as a pro. While the converted tackle could not retain his LG job to start this season, having accomplished this O-line tour of sorts in his third season is certainly noteworthy. Lester Cotton will start at left guard for the Dolphins, who are uncertain to have LG first-stringer Isaiah Wynn back this season.

CB J.C. Jackson Will Not Travel To Germany With Patriots

November 10th, 2023 at 1:40pm CST by Sam Robinson

NOVEMBER 10: Belichick said Friday he expects the sixth-year cornerback to return after the Patriots’ bye week. While expectedly evading a question about why Jackson stayed in the States for this international game, Belichick said (via Rapoport) Jackson will likely be back with the team in Week 12.

NOVEMBER 8: J.C. Jackson has run into another hurdle on his path to playing time this season. After Jackson was a healthy scratch with the Chargers earlier this year, the Patriots temporarily benched their low-end trade acquisition in Week 9. While Jackson ended up playing Sunday, questions about his status now loom.

The Patriots are set to travel to Germany without Jackson this week, according to NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport and Mike Garafolo, who add unreliability is behind the team’s plans to play its overseas game without the recently reacquired cornerback. The Patriots will face the Colts in Week 10 but will do so without another player who has been a starting corner. The team hopes this layoff, which will feature a Week 11 bye, will help in an effort to bring Jackson back into the fold.

New England is already down Marcus Jones and Christian Gonzalez for the season, and the team has used Jackson as a starter. In five games back with the Patriots, Jackson has started three. The soon-to-be 28-year-old defender worked as a backup days after the trade back to New England and against Washington in Week 9, with the team benching both he and Jack Jones to start the game. Both entered later, with Jackson debuting on New England’s third defensive series. But an issue has emerged here.

It took until the second quarter for Jones to play against the Commanders, and the Boston Herald’s Doug Kyed notes Bill Belichick mentioned consistency in connection with the corners’ early-game absences. Though, as expected, the 24th-year coach did not delve into this matter deeply. Earlier this week, Belichick praised Jackson’s effort to re-acclimate — on the conditioning end, at least — after spending multiple seasons in Los Angeles.

“Well, it’s been a transition. I think his off-field training and physical health and conditioning — conditional has definitely improved,” Belichick said of Jackson. “So, he’s done a good job working at that. Just the consistency in the secondary from everybody is something we need to do a better job of.”

This consistency may also bleed into off-field matters. Jackson being late to the team hotel Saturday contributed to his benching, SI.com’s Albert Breer notes. Jackson missed curfew before the Commanders game, per The Athletic’s Jeff Howe, who adds the Patriots told the veteran cover man to stay home today. Attitude concerns and performance-related matters are at play here as well, with Howe noting the team had planned to bench Jackson for the Washington game as well (Twitter links).

Off-field matters have limited Jackson at various points during his career. An arrest while at Florida led him off the SEC team’s roster and into the JUCO ranks, before a resurgence at Maryland. Still, Jackson went undrafted in 2018 in part because of off-field issues. Earlier this year, an arrest warrant emerged in connection with a criminal speeding charge from 2021. He was also arrested for what was labeled a “nonviolent family issue” in 2022.

On the field, Jackson has been one of the NFL’s top ballhawks in recent years. He has 26 career interceptions and worked as a regular for higher-profile Patriots teams, playing a role on New England’s 2018 Super Bowl-winning squad and on a No. 1-ranked defense in 2019. Jackson’s rookie-contract work led to a five-year, $82.5MM deal from the Chargers in 2022. But Jackson struggled before suffering a ruptured patellar tendon midway through last season. During what was believed to be his ramp-up period, the Bolts made the sixth-year corner a healthy scratch for a Week 3 matchup against the Vikings. They soon traded him back to the Patriots in a swap of late-round 2025 picks.

Pro Football Focus ranks Jackson outside the top 110 at corner this season, viewing his Patriots work as inferior to what he put on tape with the Chargers. Assuming Jack Jones will travel to Germany, the Pats will have the second-year corner along with Jonathan Jones as their top options in Week 10.

AFC East Rumors: Jones, Jackson, Jets

October 8th, 2023 at 7:57pm CST by Ely Allen

The NFL’s franchise in New England had been spoiled with their consistency at the quarterback position over the 20-year reign of Tom Brady. This season, though, many are wondering if Brady’s eventual successor, Mac Jones, has what it takes to retain his seat atop the depth chart. According to several different sources, his starting job as the Patriots‘ quarterback is safe for now.

Ian Rapoport of NFL Network was the first to report this morning that the Patriots would be sticking with Jones at quarterback for today’s game against the Saints and that “no change was imminent.” He did mention that second-year quarterback Bailey Zappe, who got about a quarter of the team’s offensive snaps is last week’s blowout loss to the Cowboys, got more practice snaps than usual throughout the week.

Albert Breer of Sports Illustrated detailed that a lot of the struggles seen with Jones last week were things that have been noticed at practice in New England. He asserts that Jones still has a bit of leeway with the coaching staff, but Jones is going to need to remedy those issues in order to keep it that way.

Even after another blowout loss today that saw Jones pulled from the game in the fourth quarter, head coach Bill Belichick confirmed that Jones will remain the team’s starter, according to Josh Alper of NBC Sports. Belichick reportedly said that “the team will be ‘starting over’ as they move toward next Sunday’s game against the Raiders, but the new start won’t include a new” starter.

Here are a few other rumors out of the AFC East, starting with a new familiar face who recently returned to Massachusetts:

Recent trade acquisition from the Chargers cornerback J.C. Jackson was once a prized free agent addition in Los Angeles after his original stint with the Patriots. But things this year deteriorated to the point that Jackson, who was a healthy scratch for the Chargers in Week 3, was asked to enter the game to fill in for an injured Michael Davis, and he refused to do so, per a joint report from Rapoport and Tom Pelissero of NFL Network. Jackson, who had already sustained a serious injury during his time in Los Angeles, knew he had no future with the team and didn’t feel comfortable risking further injury. Additionally, the arrest warrant issued for Jackson in late September for reckless driving has reportedly been lifted, according to David Linton of The Sun Chronicle. Jackson paid the fine and agreed to probation in order to avoid arrest.
Along with Aaron Rodgers‘ former Green Bay teammates, wide receiver Mecole Hardman was considered a big addition to the Jets‘ receiving corps in the offseason. And despite his once prominent role on the perennial contender in Kansas City, Hardman has been a non-factor in the first five weeks of the season, including his status as a healthy scratch today. Hardman voiced his frustration to ESPN’s Rich Cimini saying, “I’m probably the best in the league in space. Maybe (the coaches) see something different. I’m just waiting for the opportunity to present itself. I think when I was in K.C., I proved that I was probably the most dangerous guy on the jet sweep, or whether it be on the end-around or on the screen, I think I proved year-out that I was that guy you had to worry about doing that.”
Sticking with the Jets, many expected a change to the composition of the quarterbacks room coming into the week. Cimini relayed head coach Robert Saleh‘s assessment that the room was “status quo” today. Tim Boyle remained as Zach Wilson‘s primary backup, while Trevor Siemian stayed down on the practice squad today.

Chargers To Trade J.C. Jackson To Patriots; Christian Gonzalez Likely Out For Season

October 4th, 2023 at 10:55pm CST by Sam Robinson

The Chargers are giving up on their J.C. Jackson experiment. A year after signing the former Patriots standout to a big-ticket deal, the Bolts will cut bait and send the veteran defender back east. The Patriots are reacquiring Jackson, NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport reports.

New England and Los Angeles will swap late-round picks in 2025, Rapoport adds. The Patriots and Chargers will exchange sixth- and seventh-rounders in the ’25 draft. This surprising move will aid a Pats team decimated at cornerback and make the AFC East squad responsible for part of a contract it did not want to pay in 2022.

A franchise tag candidate last year, Jackson instead hit the open market after not entering serious negotiations with the Pats. He followed the likes of Logan Ryan, Malcolm Butler and Stephon Gilmore out the door. The Patriots have continually passed on paying corners, and they let the Bolts give the ballhawk a five-year, $82.5MM contract that came with $40MM guaranteed at signing. That deal did not end up working out for the AFC West club, and now Jackson will follow the likes of Kyle Van Noy and Jamie Collins as defenders to reunite with the Patriots in recent years.

This trade will come after Christian Gonzalez sustained an injury against the Cowboys. The Patriots, who already played their Week 4 game without Jack Jones and Marcus Jones, are unlikely to have their first-round pick back until next season. Gonzalez sustained a torn shoulder labrum that is expected to sideline him for the rest of the season, Rapoport reports. The promising cover man is on track for surgery. WEEI’s Mike Kadlick initially reported Gonzalez suffered the labrum tear. The Oregon product had sought a second opinion, but with surgery upcoming, the Jackson trade will bring back a player quite familiar with Bill Belichick‘s system. Gonzalez will head to IR this week, SI.com’s Albert Breer tweets.

Jackson’s fit in L.A. deteriorated swiftly. The Chargers made their highest-paid corner a healthy scratch in Week 3, a decision that confused Jackson, who had recovered from a ruptured patellar tendon in time for Week 1. Jackson did not play in the Bolts’ Week 4 win over the Raiders, either, and said last week he was not yet 100%. With his career stonewalled in California, one of the NFL’s premier turnover machines will be called upon to operate in the system that made him a high-end free agent target.

Despite missing the second half of last season due to the knee injury, Jackson has corralled 26 interceptions since coming into the league in 2018. No player has picked off that many passes in that span. Jackson grew into a regular as a rookie in 2018, helping a Gilmore- and Devin McCourty-led secondary keep the Rams out of the end zone in Super Bowl LIII. Given more responsibilities in the three ensuing seasons, Jackson intercepted 21 passes from 2019-21. The Patriots rolled out top-seven scoring defenses each year.

Illustrating Jackson’s limited trade value on this top-10 CB contract, the Chargers will cover much of his 2023 salary to facilitate the move. New England is only on the hook for $1.5MM of the $9.33MM remaining on Jackson’s base salary, ESPN.com’s Jeremy Fowler adds. The Bolts will pick up the rest in a signing bonus. Considering the Pats’ hesitation with regards to meeting Jackson’s high price in 2022, this part of the transaction does not surprise.

Collins and Van Noy also returned at reduced rates; the Pats ended up moving away from Collins twice — while letting the Browns and Lions pay him — but coaxed quality production from their off-and-on linebacker while he was attached to lower-end money. Jackson is still signed through 2026 and carries base salaries of $12.4MM, $12MM and $12.1MM, respectively, from 2024-26. No more guarantees remain on the deal, though, offering the Patriots flexibility on a player they know well. Still, Jackson is coming off a down 2022 season in Brandon Staley‘s system — one that ended with a severe injury last October. Jackson was also issued an arrest warrant in connection with a 2021 speeding charge.

Jackson, 27, will rejoin slot bastion Jonathan Jones in the Pats’ secondary. Jack Jones is also eligible to come off IR in Week 5, though it is unclear if the second-year defender will be ready to do so. Marcus Jones is not eligible to come back until Week 7. The Gonzalez component, however, represents the biggest wound out of New England’s secondary injuries. This news also hits harder after the report of Matt Judon‘s biceps injury. Judon is out for an extended period, with surgery on tap. A late-season return is not out of the question, but the Pats’ secondary will face tougher assignments without the red-sleeved pass rusher providing steady pressure.

After trading down in Round 1, the Patriots chose Gonzalez at No. 17 overall. Washington had considered the Pac-12 prospect but chose Emmanuel Forbes at No. 16. ESPN’s Scouts Inc. assigned a top-10 grade to Gonzalez as a prospect, and the 6-foot-2 rookie had delivered immediate impact. Pro Football Focus ranked Gonzalez as the league’s seventh-best corner to start the season. His rookie contract runs through 2026, with the Patriots holding a fifth-year option for 2027. But this obviously stings for a Pats team that had never chosen a pure cornerback in the first round under Belichick.

The Chargers had held a slot competition between Asante Samuel Jr. and Ja’Sir Taylor this summer. While Samuel ended up winning it, Taylor replaced him inside early in the season. The second-generation NFLer re-emerged in a full-time role on the outside, and despite Staley having indicated a Jackson-Samuel-Michael Davis battle for boundary reps was on tap, the Bolts will rely on their younger corners going forward.

J.C. Jackson Addresses Chargers Demotion; CB To Play In Week 4

October 1st, 2023 at 2:23pm CST by Sam Robinson

OCTOBER 1: When speaking to the media last week, Jackson added, via The Athletic’s Daniel Popper, that he is currently less than 100% healthy (subscription required). In spite of that, he will play on Sunday against the Raiders, something of significance since L.A’s defense will be missing edge rusher Joey Bosa and safety Derwin James. It will be interesting to see how large Jackson’s workload is against Davante Adams and Co. and whether Jackson can manage to earn greater trust from Staley and the rest of the coaching staff.

SEPTEMBER 28: J.C. Jackson has drifted onto shaky ground with the Chargers. A week that saw an arrest warrant emerge — in connection with a 2021 criminal speeding charge — began with the high-priced cornerback being a healthy scratch for the Bolts-Vikings matchup.

The former Patriots UDFA recovered from a ruptured patellar tendon, which he sustained in October 2022, in time for Week 1. Brandon Staley had said the team was ramping up Jackson’s workload after his lengthy rehab effort. That plan looks to be off script, with the Bolts taking him off the field ahead of a vital game in Minnesota.

“I don’t know, what else do they expect me to do?” Jackson said, via NFL.com’s Bridget Condon. “I told [Staley], ‘What else do you expect me to do?’ I’ve been doing everything. I came back from my injury pretty fast. I’ve been putting in extra work after practice, even in meeting rooms. The DBs every Friday we all meet to do extra film and being a good teammate, so I don’t know what it is. I’m still kind of confused and still don’t have answers to why I’m getting treated like this.”

Avoiding the PUP list, Jackson operated in a part-time capacity during the season’s first two weeks. He started both games and playing 64% of the Bolts’ defensive snaps. Despite the Chargers desperate for a win and facing one of the NFL’s elite wide receivers — Justin Jefferson — their top corner was in street clothes without residing on the injury report. Asante Samuel Jr. joined Michael Davis and Ja’Sir Taylor as L.A.’s starting corners.

Staley said after Week 2 that Jackson, Samuel and Davis would vie for snaps on the outside. After losing the slot battle in training camp, Taylor has since regained the gig. Of course, Jackson continuing to be inactive would mean regular boundary snaps for Samuel, who initially won the slot job.

“I know that I can help the team so it kind of frustrates me that I’m not starting and that coach has me sitting out, and I’m one of the best players on the team. I’m one of the best [defensive backs] that we have,” Jackson said.

The Chargers gave Jackson a five-year, $82.5MM deal ($40MM fully guaranteed) in March 2022 but have not seen that investment pay off yet. A candidate for a Patriots franchise tag last year, Jackson instead followed the other primary corners from the team’s run of 2010s Super Bowls — Logan Ryan, Malcolm Butler and Stephon Gilmore — out the door. The Pats prioritized Jonathan Jones, who is now on his third contract with the team, and have otherwise invested in lower-cost players at the position.

A ballhawk with the Patriots, Jackson intercepted his first pass as a Charger in Week 1. He now has 26 INTs, the most in the NFL since 2018. He joined Khalil Mack and Sebastian Joseph-Day as key defensive pickups in Staley’s second offseason. The Chargers could save more than $14MM by designating Jackson as a post-June 1 cut next year. While this situation might not be deteriorating to that point just yet, Jackson will certainly need to reclaim a regular role to avoid such a fate.

Arrest Warrant Issued For Chargers CB J.C. Jackson

September 25th, 2023 at 4:36pm CST by Adam La Rose

J.C. Jackson‘s on-field situation has not developed as planed with the Chargers, and his off-field status continues to take unwanted turns as well. An arrest warrant has been issued for the high-priced cover man.

Failure to attend a probation violation hearing in Attleboro District Court is the cause for the warrant, reports MassLive’s Chris Mason. Jackson had initially been charged with criminal speeding in 2021 (during his time with the Patriots), but he failed to take a ‘Brains At Risk’ program which was mandatory as a result of his arrest. He also did not pay a $300 fine and failed to appear in court last week, leading to the warrant being issued.

Jackson was a healthy scratch on Sunday, a move which came as a surprise given the progress he had been making in his recovery from a ruptured patellar tendon early in the season. Mason’s report indicates no clear link between the benching decision and today’s news; likewise, Jeff Howe of The Athletic states the two are not related (subscription required).

The former UDFA was arrested last December for what was termed a ‘non-violent family issue.’ Jackson wound up being limited to five games in 2022, though his missed time came about only through injury, not suspension. The campaign was still a signficant disappointment, given the five-year, $82.5MM deal he signed in free agency as part of the Chargers’ efforts to fortify their defense.

Jackson struggled in his limited game action in 2022, although his first two performances this season offered a glimpse of improvement in coverage. After the Chargers gave up 24 points on 367 passing yards in Week 3, it will be interesting to see how Jackson figures into the team’s defensive game plans moving forward. No guaranteed base salary remains on his contract, but he is owed a $5MM roster bonus of the third day of each league year through its conclusion in 2026.

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