The 'last straw' for Jackson came last Sunday
The “last straw” of J.C. Jackson’s regrettable Los Angeles Chargers tenure came in his final game with the franchise.
Jackson, who’d been a healthy inactive the previous week, dressed for last Sunday’s game against the Las Vegas Raiders but refused to enter the game after fellow cornerback Michael Davis suffered a third-quarter injury, according to a report Sunday from NFL Media’s Ian Rapoport and Tom Pelissero.
Davis wound up playing all but one defensive snap as the Chargers won 24-17, with Jackson playing zero.
From NFL.com:
Sources say Jackson repeatedly refused to go into the game against the Raiders on Oct. 1, standing on the sideline with his shoes untied even when a teammate was banged up and needed to come off the field.
Multiple coaches attempted to persuade Jackson — a healthy scratch for the Chargers’ Week 3 game against Minnesota — to enter the game in the third quarter after Michael Davis injured his ankle. Jackson refused, saying, among other things, that he wasn’t warm enough to play, per sources.
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The Chargers were done with Jackson after that in-game dispute. Days later, they traded him back to his original team, the New England Patriots, for next to nothing, receiving only a 2025 late-round pick swap in the deal and also agreeing to pay the vast majority of Jackson’s remaining 2023 salary.
The Patriots reportedly will pay Jackson just $1.56 million for the rest of this season, which would be a bargain if he can even approximate his level of play from his most recent New England campaign. The 27-year-old had eight interceptions and 23 passes defended for the Patriots in 2021, earning Pro Bowl and second-team All-Pro honors before signing a five-year, $82.5 million contract with the Chargers and quickly nosediving.
The Patriots badly need Jackson to help shore up a cornerback group that’s dealing with injuries to Christian Gonzalez, Jonathan Jones, Jack Jones and Marcus Jones. He reportedly is expected to play Sunday against the New Orleans Saints.