The Detroit Lions had to scramble to find a quick replacement at both running back and kick returner last week after veteran Justin Jackson unexpectedly retired from the NFL. It was a curveball in preparation for both the preseason opener against the New York Giants and the overall depth chart.
Jackson had been the team’s No. 3 running back since returning to training camp earlier this summer. He filled that role capably in 2022 as well. But Jackson’s bigger value was as the team’s primary kick returner.
After the preseason win over the Giants, Campbell was finally given a chance to speak about Jackson’s retirement.
“Yeah, no, listen. It’s hard. I’d say for us it’s hard because he was having a really good camp, he really was,” Campbell said of Jackson. “It was good to get him back and he brought value to us, but at the end of the day, man, he’s in a good place and he just felt like you know what, this is where my life is going right now.
I feel like it’s time to move on and there was no ill will. He just came to the crossroads and, ‘Hey this is what I feel is right.’ And I respect that man and I wish him the best. If I can help him in any way, I will. We’re going to miss him, but he’s been a pro man. He was having a heck of a camp.”
Maurice Alexander and Dylan Drummond handled kick return duties against the Giants. While Alexander was spectacular in the punt return capacity, he did not fare well on kickoffs; No. 15 averaged 11 yard per return and never passed the 23-yard line. Drummond, a rookie WR from Eastern Michigan, had one return for 19 yards. Jackson finished fourth in the NFL in 2022 with an average kick return of 26.7 yards.