J.C. Jackson Lays Out Plan To Defend Ex-Patriots Wideout Brandin Cooks

The New England Patriots will match their best against Houston’s best when they visit the Texans this Sunday.

J.C. Jackson, now New England’s undisputed No. 1 cornerback following the Stephon Gilmore trade, confirmed Thursday he’s been assigned to cover top Texans wideout Brandin Cooks in this Week 5 matchup.

Jackson’s plan to neutralize the speedy Cooks, who has nearly half of Houston’s total receiving yards this season? Simple.

“I’m going to be physical,” Jackson told reporters. “That’s who I’m going to be covering. I’m going to be physical with him, get my hands on him every chance I get. We’ll see how that plays out Sunday.”

The Patriots are well aware of Cooks’ skill set. The 28-year-old wideout spent the 2017 season in New England, catching 65 passes for 1,082 yards and seven touchdowns for a team that lost in Super Bowl LII.

Jackson never overlapped with Cooks — he joined the Patriots the following season — but played against the well-traveled pass-catcher last November, when New England lost 27-20 in Houston. Cooks caught four passes from Deshaun Watson for 85 yards in that game.

“The biggest thing on Cooks is the guy’s fast,” Jackson said. “He can get past the defense if you let him. You’ve got to slow this guy down.”

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The Texans’ offense has looked awful since losing temporary starting quarterback Tyrod Taylor to injury (Watson has yet to suit up this season amid sexual harassment allegations) but Cooks has been one the NFL’s most productive receivers. He entered Week 5 ranked tied for fifth in catches (30) and sixth in receiving yards (369) and has two 100-yard outings, including one in rookie QB Davis Mills’ first NFL start (11 targets, nine catches, 112 yards in Week 3).

“(Cooks is) probably targeted as much as any receiver in the league, and he’s dangerous on everything,” Patriots coach Bill Belichick said this week. “Obviously, has tremendous speed. Great deep-ball player. Super competitive, tough kid. Runs the intermediate routes. A catch-and-run player. Quick screens. Underneath routes. He gets a step on a guy, and he can turn a five-yard gain into 20 in a hurry, so we’ve got to do a good job on him.

“But he’s certainly a guy that’s going to take the top off the defense, and if you’ve got too many guys on him, then that creates a lot of space for everybody else. He’s certainly a go-to guy for them in the passing game. We’ve got to do a good job on him.”

No other Texans player has more than eight catches or 67 receiving yards this season, with running back David Johnson ranking second in both categories. Rounding out Houston’s receiving corps Sunday will be ex-Patriot Danny Amendola, Chris Conley, Andre Roberts and Davion Davis.

New England’s defense ranks near the top of the league in most passing categories and is coming off arguably its most impressive performance of the season, holding Tom Brady to 269 passing yards, no passing touchdowns and 19 total points in last week’s narrow loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.