Broncos safety Kareem Jackson entered the NFL as a first-round pick out of Alabama with the Texans in 2010 and he spent the first nine years of his career in Houston. Jackson became a free agent in March and the Texans opted not to re-sign him so he signed a three-year deal with Denver.
On Sunday, Jackson faced the Texans for the first time since they parted ways with him. The 31-year-old defensive back had one of the best games of his career, totaling 11 tackles and one interception. He also broke up three passes and returned a fumble for a touchdown.
“He had a lot of energy, made a lot of plays,” Houston quarterback Deshaun Watson said of Jackson after the game. “He was jacked up. This is his home away from home pretty much, and he was excited to come back. So he did a good job today.”
Jackson’s touchdown happened in the first quarter of a 38-24 win when defensive lineman Jeremiah Attaochu recovered a fumble. Jackson knew Attaochu was about to be tackled so he asked his teammate to lateral the ball to him.
“I saw somebody grab him so I just thought he was tackled,” Jackson said. “I could kind of see everybody relaxing. It’s one of those plays they didn’t know if it was an incomplete pass or fumble.
“So one of the things we harp on we just play through the whistle. I never heard the whistle. It’s great awareness by Jerry to recover the ball, and I was just right there. He heard me. I was able to score it.”
That heads up thinking from Jackson led to a score that gave Denver momentum and helped the team build a 31-3 halftime lead. After the win, coach Vic Fangio had only positive things to say about Jackson’s performance.
“He had the interception, the fumble return for the touchdown, had a bunch of PBUs, was active in the tackling,” Fangio said. “But also had a tone-setting big hit, which got us off the field.
“It was on a third-down play, would have been a first down. So all in all, I think you could say he had a hell of a game.”
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