Tag: J.C. Jackson

Patriots Week 12 inactives: Trent Brown, Kayshon Boutte IN vs Giants

Key players set to return for the Patriots against the Giants.

The bye week served the New England Patriots well enough to get key playmakers back in the lineup for Sunday’s game against the New York Giants.

After a week of rest, the Patriots will have Trent Brown, J.C. Jackson, DeVante Parker and Ja’Whaun Bentley all back in the lineup. Rookie wide receiver Kayshon Boutte also received the nod over Jalen Reagor to play against the Giants.

Brown being back on the field should help boost a Patriots offensive line that struggled against the Indianapolis Colts in Week 10. The unit gave up five sacks in a game where quarterback Mac Jones was benched.

Here is the full list of inactives for both teams:

The Patriots will be as healthy as they’ve been in a while when facing the struggling Giants.

A loss would obviously help New England’s positioning in the 2024 NFL draft, but a victory could boost morale for the team and coaches in a season that has disappointed in ways never imagined.

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Patriots CB J.C. Jackson owns up to mistakes, calls New England ‘home’

“It was all my fault. I made a mistake.”

There has been a cloud of mystery hanging over the head of New England Patriots cornerback J.C. Jackson, who was benched and sent home by coach Bill Belichick two weeks ago.

A report surfaced that Jackson was being disciplined for performance issues and missing curfew.

No one knew what would become of the former All-Pro defensive back in his second run in New England. Would he have the same fate as Jack Jones, who was waived by the Patriots and picked up by a new team, or would he take the punishment on the chin and come back better from it?

Fortunately, in Jackson’s case, it appears it’s going to be the latter.

“What happened was I didn’t travel with the team to Germany. It was a punishment on my behalf and that’s what it was,” Jackson told MassLive’s Mark Daniels. “I didn’t take it any other way than, this is punishment and I hope you learn from it and grow from this mistake I made.

“And I’m here now, so hopefully that won’t happen again. It was all my fault. I made a mistake. That’s what you’re going to get from Bill [Belichick]. That’s one thing about him. He’s going to discipline no matter who you are.”

Even after being disciplined by Belichick, Jackson sees the bigger picture when it comes to his time in New England.

Things didn’t work out the way he hoped with the Los Angeles Chargers, and he has clearly been at his best when playing within Belichick’s defensive system. It has been a perfect fit that has enabled him to maximize his potential as an NFL player.

“Reality check – I’m not bigger than the team. I’m not bigger than nobody in here,” Jackson said. “This is a team sport and I have to do whatever everybody else is doing. I want to be a part of the team. This is my team. This is home for me, man. This is where I want to be. I don’t want to go nowhere else. I want to finish my career here also.

“…That’s what I feel – this is where I belong. A lot of people come here and can’t handle Bill. He finds those guys like me. Not that he makes you, but he finds those guys and I’m one of those guys he found – undrafted came in, bought into the program, and got paid. It’s him. He’s a part of it. I don’t want to play for nobody else.”

Outside of the October 29 meeting with the Miami Dolphins, Jackson has actually played well for the Patriots, since being traded back to the team from the Chargers.

Even after a year away, Jackson is still a perfect fit for the team that took a chance on him as an undrafted rookie coming out of college in 2018. New England really is his home.

It’s where he’s meant to be.

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CB J.C. Jackson returned to practice for Patriots on Wednesday

The Patriots got some good news on Wednesday with CB J.C. Jackson returning to practice.

After being sent home last week, New England Patriots cornerback J.C. Jackson returned to practice on Wednesday.

It’s a step in a positive direction for a Patriots organization still dealing with the fallout from waiving second-year cornerback Jack Jones on Monday.

Along with Jackson, Jones was benched against the Washington Commanders for a portion of the game for behavioral and performance issues. The Patriots initially sent Jackson home, but they allowed Jones to travel with the team to Germany, where things spiraled even further.

Jones ended up being cut by the team, while Jackson is likely on thin ice from here on out.

Things aren’t fun right now in New England.

The team is 2-8 on the season and currently looking at a complete rebuild in the offseason. That rebuild could still include a talented defender like Jackson, who would make a strong pairing with Christian Gonzalez on the backend of the defense.

Jackson has clearly played his best football in New England, and there is time for him to prove that’s still the case, even in a losing season.

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Patriots captain had strong message for J. C. Jackson situation

Short but sweet. Patriots captain David Andrews had a powerful message on the J.C. Jackson situation.

New England Patriots center and captain David Andrews had a strong message for cornerback J. C. Jackson, who reportedly got into trouble with the team last week for performance issues and missing curfew.

Jackson subsequently sat out the first two series of the Week 9 game against the Washington Commanders. New England lost the game by a 20-17 margin. Things didn’t get much better after the loss with Jackson being sent home and ruled out for Week 10 against the Indianapolis Colts.

Things are seemingly snow-piling on the Patriots at a point when they have the worst record in the AFC division. Andrews reiterated the message of team, and sent a message to Jackson in the process as well, per NESN.com’s Zack Cox.

“I don’t make those decisions or really know much about it, but I think the biggest thing is being committed to the team,” Andrews said. “I think that’s always something I’ve tried to preach and live by — the team comes first.

“Sometimes it comes first, and whether it be your family or things like that, I try to find that balance. That’s hard. But I think the team always will come first. That’s the most important thing in this game. It’s the greatest team game.”

We’ll see if the team can rally together at its lowest point in Sunday’s meeting with the Colts.

Patriots Wire Podcast: Is Bill Belichick losing the locker room?

Coming off a drama-filled weekend, is it safe to assume Bill Belichick has lost the Patriots’ locker room?

As if losing seven games halfway through the season wasn’t enough for the New England Patriots. Now, the team is dealing with drama behind closed doors as well with cornerbacks J.C. Jackson and Jack Jones.

Both players reportedly missed curfew on Saturday and were benched in the early part of Sunday’s game against the Washington Commanders. Jackson declined to speak with reporters after the game, while Jones left the building entirely before the media swarmed.

Things got even weirder after the benching with Jones liking a social media post that suggested he would have been better off pleading guilty, which is likely a reference to the gun charges he faced over the summer.

Jones was back at practice on Wednesday, but it was reported after the recording of this week’s Patriots Wire Podcast that Jackson was sent home. The veteran cornerback is expected to miss Sunday’s international game in Germany against the Indianapolis Colts.

Ryan O’Learly and I discuss the current state of the Patriots in this week’s episode of the podcast. Is coach Bill Belichick losing more than just football games? Has he also lost control of the locker room?

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Please share your thoughts and opinions with us. We’d love to hear from you. You can find us on Facebook and Twitter.

Are people blowing the locker room drama talk out of proportion? Can the Patriots get back on track overseas against the Colts? Will this be Belichick’s final game on the Patriots’ sideline?

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New report details why Patriots benched J.C. Jackson and Jack Jones

This was likely one of the contributing factors to J.C. Jackson and Jack Jones being benched against the Commanders.

There has been ongoing speculation surrounding the surprising benching of  cornerbacks J.C. Jackson and Jack Jones in the New England Patriots’ 20-17 loss to the Washington Commanders in Week 9.

The answer appears to be a combination of things, but there was some new information in a recent report from ESPN’s Mike Reiss on Wednesday. Per Reiss, a source told ESPN that Jackson missed curfew at the team hotel on Saturday.

Jones was also noted for showing up to the team hotel late. According to Reiss, the tardiness contributed to Jones’ reduced role on the team. He was benched at the start of the game, before returning for 30 defensive snaps in total.

The fact that both Jones and Jackson got torched for 100-plus receiving yards from Miami Dolphins receivers Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle the previous week probably didn’t help matters. So it could have been a combination of performance and punctuality issues for the two corners.

Jones was back for the media portion of Wednesday’s practice, but Jackson, who is expected to miss Week 10, was nowhere to be found. It’s unexpected drama at the worst possible time for the 2-7 Patriots.

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Patriots’ J.C. Jackson not expected to play vs. Colts in Week 10

New England will be without J.C. Jackson in Germany.

The New England Patriots will be without cornerback J.C. Jackson for the Week 10 matchup against the Indianapolis Colts as he will not travel with the team to Germany, according to reports from NFL Network.

Jackson, who was traded from the Los Angeles Chargers in early October,  will be staying behind as a “mental reset” following his benching in the Week 9 loss against the Washington Commanders.

The Colts will have their chances to get the passing game back on track after the struggles against the Carolina Panthers. New England is allowing the 12th-most passing yards per game (232.7) and the seventh-most passing first downs per game (12.4). The Patriots also rank 23rd in defensive passing DVOA.

We’ll see if it makes a difference, but the Patriots will be down at least one of their significant contributors for the game in Germany.

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Report: After being benched, Patriots CB J.C. Jackson not expected to travel with team to Germany

J.C. Jackson was benched last week, and now, he reportedly won’t be traveling with the team to face the Colts in Germany.

The plot could be thickening at cornerback for the New England Patriots with the recent drama involving J.C. Jackson.

Per the NFL Network’s Mike Garafolo and Ian Rapoport, Jackson isn’t expected to travel with the team to Germany for their Week 10 clash with the Indianapolis Colts in Frankfurt. He will be staying behind as part of a “mental reset” a week after being benched by the Patriots against the Washington Commanders.

Good luck trying to decipher the reasoning for the benching. Cornerback Jack Jones was also benched against the Commanders, but coach Bill Belichick hasn’t been forthcoming with an explanation for that decision.

The Patriots have been carved up through the air in back-to-back weeks to Tua Tagovailoa and Sam Howell.

Jackson reportedly declined to speak to the media after the loss to the Commanders, and Jones left the building early. So there has been no official explanation from the players involved, either.

It’s a sad turn of events considering Jackson was initially seen as a strong replacement for Patriots standout rookie corner Christian Gonzalez, who was lost to a season-ending shoulder injury.

The turmoil on the field has seemingly spilled into the locker room for the once buttoned-up Patriots organization.

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Chargers GM Tom Telesco literally apologized to the team for signing and missing on J.C. Jackson

Imagine being so bad that someone has to apologize for you.

When the Los Angeles Chargers signed J.C. Jackson in the spring of 2022, they thought they were adding a franchise cornerback to a championship nucleus. Jackson was supposed to be their missing piece, the final and glorious chain link.

He was anything but.

Not only did Jackson miss 14 of his 22 Chargers games due to injury, but he was also outright benched twice. In the rare instances where Jackson did feature for L.A., he resembled one of the NFL’s worst cornerbacks, routinely hanging the Chargers’ defense out to dry by getting burned over and over. According to ESPN’s Kris Rhim, Jackson apparently seldom took accountability for his poor play, usually approaching team events without a “sense of urgency.” Eventually, the Chargers and general manager Tom Telesco cut bait on Jackson, trading him back to the New England Patriots.

It only grew more awkward after Jackson was gone. Once he was traded away, Telesco reportedly spoke to the team’s defensive backs, apologizing for signing the cornerback and for giving him way too many opportunities to redeem himself. While I’m sure they appreciated the executive’s forthcoming honesty, that is one brutal way to put a bow on a massive free agency blunder.

More from ESPN’s Kris Rhim:

It was Week 6, the group’s first meeting since the Chargers traded cornerback J.C. Jackson to the New England Patriots for a swap of late-round picks, just over a year after signing him to a five-year $82.5 million contract in March of 2022. Telesco stood in front of the group and began to apologize.

Telesco told the group that signing Jackson was a mistake, according to multiple team sources. He apologized for continuing to give Jackson opportunities, despite Jackson routinely showing that he wasn’t as committed as the rest of the team while being one of the Chargers’ highest paid players.

Telesco called the move a “swing and a miss.”

The Chargers are still feeling the effects of missing on Jackson badly.

Without a real franchise cornerback in place, Brandon Staley’s unit ranks just 25th in total passing defense and is only 29th in expected points added (EPA) per play, per RBDSM.com. Jackson isn’t entirely to blame, but he certainly didn’t help matters. It goes to show you that nothing is a sure thing in NFL free agency — even with players who resemble All-Pro talents when you acquire their services.

More information on Patriots benching J.C. Jackson and Jack Jones

More information on Patriots’ corners J.C. Jackson and Jack Jones being benched for a portion of Sunday’s game against the Commanders.

Things have gone from bad to worse for the New England Patriots with the fallout from the mysterious benching of cornerbacks Jack Jones and J.C. Jackson in Sunday’s game against the Washington Commanders.

Both players opened the game on the bench for “performance issues,” per The Athletic’s Jeff Howe.

They were both inserted back into the lineup later in the game that ended in a 20-17 loss for the Patriots. The defense struggled to cover on the backend throughout the contest with Commanders quarterback Sam Howell constantly scrambling and connecting on tight-window throws downfield.

After the game, it was reported by the PR team for the Patriots that Jones had exited the building and wasn’t available for interview with reporters. Jackson also declined to speak with reporters in the locker room.

Jones also liked a tweet that suggested he should have “pleaded guilty at this point.” The tweet seems to be in relation to his summer arrest from an alleged incident involving firearms.

None of this is a good look for the Patriots, especially with the team sitting last in the AFC East division with a 2-7 record. It’s already bad enough to be losing football games.

The last thing the team needs now is to implode from within.

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