Patriots’ JC Jackson on why he was punished by Bill Belichick, calls the situation a 'reality check'
The reunion between the Patriots and JC Jackson haven’t gone as planned since being acquired following the injury to Christian Gonzalez.
Jackson was benched for multiple series against the Washington Commanders a few weeks ago and stayed behind when the team traveled to Germany to play the Colts.
The veteran defensive back spoke with MassLive’s Mark Daniels and revealed why he was punished by Bill Belichick and said he’s apologized for his actions.
“What happened was I didn’t travel with the team to Germany. It was a punishment on my behalf and that’s what it was,” Jackson said to MassLive. “I didn’t take it any other way than, this is punishment and I hope you learn from it and grow from this mistake I made.
“And I’m here now, so hopefully that won’t happen again. It was all my fault. I made a mistake. That’s what you’re going to get from Bill (Belichick). That’s one thing about him. He’s going to discipline no matter who you are.”
Jackson admitted that he missed time against Washington due to missing bed check.
“I was kind of late to bed check. They checked my room. I wasn’t there at the time,” Jackson said. “That’s what it was. It was nothing major. I wasn’t out that night doing anything stupid. It was just I wasn’t where I was supposed to be on time. Little mistakes, man. I’m a professional I know better than that. I’ve been around. I’ve never missed a bed check. Things happen. If I knew what that was going to cause, I would have never done it.”
Jackson left the Patriots last season and signed a five-year, $82.5 million contract with the Chargers. He played five games for the Bolts before suffering a season-ending knee injury.
The Chargers elected to move on from Jackson due to his “lackadaisical attitude” and his failure to respond to coaching, according to a report from ESPN in October.
New England signed Jackson as an undraftred free agent out of Maryland. He quickly impressed, became a starter and finished with three interceptions in his rookie season. Jackson emerged as one the league’s best cornerbacks and had 26 interceptions from 2018-2022.
Whether the Patriots got through to Jackson or he truly understands the error of his ways, the 28-year-old calls the whole situation a “reality check.”
“Reality check – I’m not bigger than the team. I’m not bigger than nobody in here,” Jackson said. “This is a team sport and I have to do whatever everybody else is doing. I want to be a part of the team. This is my team. This is home for me, man. This is where I want to be. I don’t want to go nowhere else. I want to finish my career here also. I’ve just got to continue to build that leadership each and every day. It just stinks for me – I kind of played a lot of football. I know what to do at this point.”
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