Bears’ Eddie Jackson Sounds Off on ‘B.S.’ Calls vs. Lions

Getty

Eddie Jackson was not happy about another week of 'B.S.' penalties in the Bears' loss to the Lions in Week 10.

The Chicago Bears are conscious of the fact that they need to execute better and limit their mistakes moving forward if they want to start winning games, but their veteran leaders are also getting tired of the questionable penalties and the lack of accountability for the officials that are calling them.

For a second straight week, the Bears found themselves on the wrong side of critical penalties that helped swing the game against them in their 31-30 loss to the Detroit Lions. This time, it was the illegal use of hands to the face call that went against Bears cornerback Jaylon Johnson — one that appeared to be a phantom penalty on replay — and wiped out a potential win-sealing interception for rookie linebacker Jack Sanborn.

Sanborn’s called-back interception would have given the Bears the ball back at their own 26-yard line with a 14-point lead and 11:42 remaining in the fourth quarter. Instead, the Lions got a fresh set of downs nine yards away from the end zone and scored on the very next play on a D’Andre Swift run, putting their comeback in motion.

“We already know how the calls go,” Bears free safety Jackson said in the postgame, via Josh Schrock of NBC Sports Chicago. “We can’t do nothing about that and just do our job. Stay disciplined. I feel like some of them calls was kind of B.S.”

NFL Admitted Officials Wronged Bears Against Dolphins

Jackson was pretty outspoken about the egregious penalties that were called against the Bears in Week 9’s loss to the Miami Dolphins. There were two instances of pass interference that came at Chicago’s expense: one that resulted in a call against Jackson for his incidental contact with the receiver and one no-call in which a Dolphins defender had his arms wrapped around Bears receiver Chase Claypool.

In both instances, the NFL determined that the officials had made mistakes. The league told the Bears that Jackson should not have been called for defensive pass interference, while the Dolphins defender — Keion Crossen — should have been flagged for his contact with Claypool, according to Alex Shapiro of NBC Sports. A clarification, however, wasn’t needed for Jackson, who called the entire sequence “crazy.”

Here’s what Jackson said in Week 9’s postgame, via Shapiro:

Play the ball, try to turn into a receiver, as we’re taught as DBs. So as I’m playing the ball, I’m thinking I’m there and I feel the guy hit me, so it’s like I don’t know what they’re calling. I thought it was offensive PI, then the ref called it on me. So I turned to him and said, ‘Yo, how is that a flag?’ He said he didn’t see me playing the ball.

I don’t know what to say. ‘You’re a referee, you’re right on the side, I don’t know how you didn’t see me play the ball. Replay will show you, I didn’t look at the receiver once the whole time. I was playing the ball the whole way in the air,’ so it’s like, it’s crazy.”