NEWSLETTER
When the Chicago Bears dropped this photo yesterday, it piqued my interest:
Eddie Jackson wearing the captain’s “C” in the Bears’ first game after trading away Robert Quinn (who was voted as one of the team’s captains at the start of the year) had my full attention. And one day later, Bears Head Coach Matt Eberflus announced to reporters that Jackson would keep the “C” on his chest for the rest of the season:
Eberflus explained that he told the players of the news elevating Jackson to captain status on Saturday before leaving for Sunday’s game against the Cowboys. Bears players initially voted Justin Fields, Roquan Smith, Cody Whitehair, and Quinn as captains. The next highest vote-getter after Quinn was Jackson, so the promotion to captain is one based on merit and the players’ vote. And it looks like they’ll be going down the list for the next highest vote-getter after the Roquan trade. But that is a conversation for a different time in space. Right now, I’m all about Jackson earning captaincy — allowing us to add another chapter to the Eddie Jackson Comeback Tour story.
Jackson had a two-year slump that spanned the 2020 and 2021 seasons. While he was slumping, Jackson came away with no interceptions and saw his traditional and advanced metrics grades take a dive. But a re-vitalized Jackson has come out swinging this year. Early in the season, Jackson said he was in his best state since the 2018 season. And the numbers bear it out. In eight games, Jackson has four interceptions, four passes defensed, two forced fumbles, 58 tackles, and is Pro Football Focus’ 16th highest graded safety.
In other words, the old Eddie Jackson is back. And with him, comes a whole lot of high-end safety play:
A more aggressive Jackson has leveled upin 2022. Imagine what he’ll do as an encore now that he has the “C” on his chest.
