These Week-Old J.C. Jackson Comments Should Concern Patriots Fans After Trade

The Patriots’ Wednesday morning trade for J.C. Jackson would be worth getting excited about if they were adding a healthy version of the 27-year-old cornerback.

But they’re not landing a healthy version of Jackson. And we know that because Jackson himself admitted it just a week ago.

Jackson, who spent the first four seasons of his career in New England, signed a lucrative contract with the Chargers in 2022. He struggled early in his first season in Los Angeles, then suffered a dislocated kneecap/ruptured patella tendon in late October. Jackson worked his way back over the summer but again struggled in his first two games this season. His Chargers career hit another low point in Week 3 when he was a healthy scratch against the Minnesota Vikings.

Days later, Jackson opened up about the benching while revealing he still wasn’t fully recovered.

“That’s exactly what it is, I’m not 100%,” Jackson told reporters, via NFL.com. “I know that the doctors know that. I’m not 100% so I’m doing my best. We’re giving the team what they want. I’m doing my best and I don’t know what they expect me to do.”

Jackson added: “I don’t know, what else do they expect me to do? 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 was active for Week 4 but didn’t see a snap, effectively seeing his second consecutive benching. Now, he’s back in New England after the Patriots swapped late-round draft picks with the Chargers.

With all that said, the Patriots had to do something at cornerback after reportedly losing standout rookie Christian Gonzalez for the season. And a reported reworking of Jackson’s contract means New England barely will pay him anything this season. Plus, Jackson isn’t guaranteed any money for the next three campaigns.

So, it was a solid low-risk, high-reward play by Bill Belichick and company.

Just don’t be surprised if Jackson looks like a shell of the player who earned a Pro Bowl nod with the Patriots in 2021. He still hasn’t recovered from last season’s serious knee injury, and he might limited for the rest of the campaign.