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When it comes to Patriots defensive back JC Jackson this season, you never quite know what you’ll get. But whatever it is, you can be sure that coach Bill Belichick will not want to discuss it. On Sunday in the Patriots’ Week 15 game against the Chiefs, another bizarre chapter in the Jackson saga was written, as he was expected to start but instead, was a healthy scratch and did not play at all.
In his place was cornerback Alex Austin, signed by the Patriots last month after he’d been released by the Texans. Austin, a seventh-round pick of the Bills in last year’s NFL draft, had all of 18 career defensive snaps to his credit. He said he found out he was starting at a rather inopportune time.
“I found out right when the game started,” he said.
Patriots coach Bill Belichick, to the surprise of no one, was tight-lipped on the subject. He was asked three times what the deal with Jackson was, and three times refused to elaborate.
“He wasn’t available,” Belichick said in his postgame press conference. “Just leave it at that.”
JC Jackson Has Been a Bill Belichick Problem
Jackson has courted controversy all season with the Patriots, and with the Chargers before that. He started his career in New England and developed into a Pro Bowl corner in his fourth season. Impressed, the Chargers rewarded him in 2022 free agency with a whopping five-year, $82.5 million contract that included $40 million guaranteed.
Jackson played only five games in his first season with the Chargers last year and this year, the Chargers were so eager to get rid of him that they traded him back to New England on October 4, getting back a sixth-round/seventh-round pick swap in return.
But Jackson has again proven unreliable. The Patriots left him home from their Week 10 game in Germany after Jackson was reported to have been late to the team hotel before the previous game against the Commanders.
Whatever happened this time around left open the starting job for Austin.
“I mean, we all know that when a game starts, anything can happen,” Belichick said. “Happened a little bit before that. He was ready to play, expected to play. Played a lot, so. Talked about that before, it’s everybody’s job to be ready to go. That’s what we do.”
Patriots’ Alex Austin ‘Blessed’
And despite the intrigue and mystery of the JC Jackson affair, Austin did hold his own, even in a 27-17 blowout.
“I felt ready for the opportunity, like you said. I’ve been grinding for a long time to get this opportunity,” he said at his locker after the game. “Just was blessed enough to be bale to get out there and get the start versus a great opponent, a great quarterback, a great offense.
“So, I felt good. I felt confident to go out there with the group of guys that I am battling with every day. The veteran guys made things easy for me out there with communication. And it was just fun to build that camaraderie today with the guys for sure.”
He is the one Patriot who has no problem with Jackson’s absence. Austin has bounced through three organizations already but is grateful for the chance he got in Week 15.
“I didn’t know I was gonna end up here and I am just blessed to be here,” he said.
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