At the risk of sounding like a broken record, I’ll re-iterate my long-held stance at the top.
Players missing voluntary OTAs does not bother me.
Mandatory practices, not so much. But voluntary ones? Yeah, my preference would be for all hands to be on deck unless something is pressing. However, I digress.
One reason it doesn’t bug me is that sometimes a player who won’t be around for one set of practices will make it to another. Let’s be real. Sometimes, it is easy to lose sight of the reality that these players have other things going on in their lives, too. So while we’d love perfect attendance at all sessions of OTAs, it isn’t the end of the world if it doesn’t happen.
With that as the setup, it is encouraging to see this tweet from NBC Sports Chicago’s Alex Shapiro, who made note that Jackson — who was among the notable players not at last week’s practices — was at Halas Hall on Wednesday for this round of OTAs:
What a wonderful development this is for the Bears. And for Jackson, too. To hear that Jackson is in on team meetings and things of that nature gives me good vibes. I dig it.
Jackson’s arrival at Halas Hall is about more than his practice ability. He grew as a locker room leader in 2022. He was vocal in his support of quarterback Justin Fields not getting calls. On multiple occasions, too. But also, I don’t want to minimize his on-field contributions.
Head Coach Matt Eberflus and Defensive Coordinator Alan Williams were using Jackson all over the field last year. Deploying Jackson in an aggressive manner saw the veteran safety level up his play in 2022. Not only was he shining in that role, but Jackson was open to being versatile on defense. Playing at a high level while taking on a leadership role likely factored into giving Jackson a captain’s “C” in October. It was a well-earned “C” patch, to be sure.
That Jackson isn’t practicing isn’t of much concern to me at this time. Remember, Jackson had a season-ending foot injury that happened in late November on that awful MetLife Stadium surface. And even though Jackson’s injury didn’t require surgery, it was still serious enough to keep him out of action.
As a veteran who was thriving before the injury, I’m not worrying about Jackson playing catch-up. After all, Jackson was playing at a Pro Bowl level at the time of his injury. Heck, he was the NFC’s top vote-getter among free safeties before being ruled out for the year. For the sake of the NFL’s other players, I’m glad they made plans to replace that cursed turf.