Getty Eddie Jackson has responded to his Twitter beef with Lance Briggs.
Eddie Jackson is aware he needs to tackle better.
The two-time Pro Bowl safety for the Chicago Bears has been criticized for his bad tackling in the past, but he had never gotten into Twitter spats with Bears greats about the issue until this season.
Former Bears linebacker Lance Briggs, a Hall of Fame nominee, called Jackson out on NBC Sports’ Football Aftershow after the team’s Week 6 loss to the Green Bay Packers for failing to do his job as the the last line of defense. In a tweet he since deleted, Jackson fired back at Briggs, re-tweeting a 2011 PFF stat that highlighted the linebacker’s missed tackles at the time.
Jackson spoke to the media for the first time since firing back at Briggs, and he revealed why the criticism bothered him so much. He also got incredibly candid about his issues with tackling.
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Jackson Was Bothered By Briggs Questioning His Effort
When talking with the press on October 26, Jackson noted it wasn’t that Briggs called him out publicly that bothered him. It was the questioning of his effort he took umbrage with. Jackson said that for that reason, he doesn’t regret throwing a little shade back at the Bears legend:
I wouldn’t say too much of regret because I feel like it’s football and the type of player I am, I feel like you should never question my effort. Making the tackle, I know I have to make that tackle. Don’t nobody go out there and want to miss a tackle, you know you have to get the guy to the ground. But when it comes to questioning effort and playing ability, we have all been here before, we all as players know how it feels when you go out there laying everything on the line trying to be aggressive, things like that are going to happen. You just have to go out there and make your plays. Like I said, when the effort part gets to questioning, that’s the part I have to say something about. I can take direct criticism. I went to Alabama. Coach Saban always coached us on that. You have to learn how to take direct criticism. It’s not about that, it’s about the effort part.
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Jackson Got Candid About Tackling Struggle
The All-Pro has been having a bit of a down year for the Bears, missing six tackles and allowing a passer rating of 138.2 to opposing QBs, per PFF. Jackson was an All-Pro selection in 2018 because of his ball-hawking ways (he forced two fumbles, had six INTs and scored three TDs that year), and in a revealing moment, he said he was having a hard time balancing going after the ball — which has become his bread and butter — with wrapping ball carriers up.
Here’s what he said about it:
Sometimes when you’re in the game, especially when you’re trying to make a play, you want to go and try to let a big hit on the guy, try to knock the ball out or you’re trying to strip at the ball, but you have to get the guy on the ground. We coach, first and second man to the ball. That’s the type of thing we coach, so we have to continue to stay on top of those keys. That’s something you have to put into your mind when you’re going into a tackle, like, OK, just remember to wrap. Sometimes when you’re going out there, you’re just flying around, and you’re just trying to make plays, all of that stuff kind of leaves you, and you’re just going out there trying to be aggressive. Sometimes it can pay off but sometimes it can hurt you, so you have to continue to keep that in the back of your mind, every time you go in, make sure you wrap.
Jackson has never been known for his stellar tackling — it has been an issue since he was at Alabama — but he did become known for his ability to make plays on the ball, and he has not been doing that. If he were, his missed tackles would be far less glaring.
Ideally, he’ll be able to shore up the tackling a bit while still making a few plays on the ball, and he has 10 games left this season to work on it. Either way, his honesty about the issue was commendable.
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