Chicago Bears: A Change Could Help Bring Back the Old Eddie Jackson

The 2021 season wasn’t a very good one for Chicago Bears safety Eddie Jackson. Perhaps a change of coaching staff could have him back to his old All-Pro form.

Last season was a tough one for the Chicago Bears. They only won six games. Also, they had a stretch in which they lost eight of nine games. Things were rough on the field.

One of the players who felt the wrath of fans for his bad season was safety Eddie Jackson. After racking up 15 turnovers in his first three seasons he was a fan favorite. However, he became their beat-up doll in 2021.

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Jackson did finish third on the team in tackles last season. That wasn’t the problem, though. All the missed tackles and weak attempts at tackling were, though. Additionally, he had zero interceptions for the second consecutive season. After recording those 15 turnovers early on, he has just two in the past two seasons.

Jackson himself understands that he didn’t have a good season. He isn’t blind.

Yeah, it wasn’t the best at all. I think that’s probably one of my worst seasons. I gave up too many deep balls. Just trying to eliminate that. The little things with your eyes, breaking on the ball, attention to details. Little things, little fixes that you could make.

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A change could do Jackson right

After another frustrating season last year, the Chicago Bears decided to make a change. Out were general manager Ryan Pace and head coach Matt Nagy. In came Ryan Poles and Matt Eberflus, respectively.

The Bears now have a completely new coaching staff. Eberflus brings in a different scheme (4-3 instead of the 3-4). Also, he brings in a more aggressive defense that ranked second in turnovers over the last four seasons.

Perhaps the change could do wonders for Jackson’s play. The Bears had a very aggressive defense in 2018 and it was one of the best of the decade. Jackson was a big part of that.

Now Jackson finds himself on the verge of leaving Chicago. The Bears traded Khalil Mack and absorbed a dead cap hit of $24 million. Had they cut or traded Jackson, they would have another hit of over $24.5 million. That was too much to handle, so Jackson remained with the Bears.

If he doesn’t pick it up in 2022, however, next offseason will be different. The dead cap for him pre-June 1st is $9.6 million and post June-1st is just $3.9 million. As a result, Poles will pull the trigger on that in a heartbeat.

The Bears hope second-round pick Jaquan Brisker will also help Jackson. Since the Bears allowed strong safety Adrian Amos, who had a good rapport with Jackson, leave via free agency, things haven’t been the same. Ha Ha Clinton-Dix and Tashaun Gipson just weren’t the same there. Now they hope the rookie learns well and complements Jackson more than the others.

Jackson feels that the new defensive scheme simplifies things and helps him keep the ball in sight. Now, however, he just has to see the ball, go for it, and make the plays we’re used to seeing from him.

Jackson feels energized and is willing to do what he needs to help him and the Chicago Bears defense improve.