Former Patriot J.C. Jackson Speaks Out About Chargers Benching

J.C. Jackson and the Los Angeles Chargers are off on the wrong foot, just three weeks into the season.

After inking a five-year, $82.5 million contract before year two in Los Angeles, and playing in Week 1 and 2, Jackson became a last-minute scratch before the Chargers took the field in Week 3. That decision, which can easily be linked to Jackson’s early-season struggles, still confused the 2021 Second-team All-Pro cornerback himself.

“What else do they expect me to do?” Jackson told NFL.com on Wednesday. “I told coach (Brandon Staley) what else do you expect me to do? I’ve been doing everything. I came back from my injury pretty fast. I’ve been putting in extra work after practice, even in meeting rooms. The DBs every Friday we all meet to do extra film and being a good teammate, so I don’t know what it is. I’m still kind of confused and still don’t have answers to why I’m getting treated like this.”

Jackson could continute to think Los Angeles has an exclusive vendetta aimed at him, but the 27-year-old had an abysmal debut year with the Chargers. He racked up just 12 tackles, Jackson’s career lowest after a solid four-year run with the New England Patriots, before suffering a season-ending knee injury after just five games.

It’s not hard to connect the dots from there, nor has Jackson flipped the switch since kicking off the 2023 season.

“Just turn on the film, look at my play style, look what I did in the past,” Jackson said.

Playing in 39 defensive snaps in Week 2 against the Tennessee Titans, Jackson recorded just three tackles — the only three he’s totaled thus far. Now, there’s still time for Jackson and the Chargers to look back with no regrets, but that’ll require a lot more than bashing Los Angeles for its justified decisions.