After an aggressive offseason, the Chicago Bears badly botched the start of the season against their arch-rivals Green Bay Packers (20:38). Then a star on defense got his fat off.
The Bears’ overall performance wasn’t good in week one. Not only was the offense disappointing, the defense also had some deficiencies. One player who was particularly in focus was safety Eddie Jackson. He received harsh criticism from a former Bears player and Hall of Famer Dan Hampton.
The former defensive lineman took on Jackson in an interview with “WGN Radio Sports”: “Eddie Jackson plays like a clown. He doesn’t tackle and messes up coverages.” But that’s not all: “If Eddie starts on Sunday, that tells me you’re not trying to win because Eddie has become a clown out there.”
However, Jackson wasn’t the Bears’ main problem against the Packers. According to PFF, Jackson even had four tackles. In addition, he only allowed one reception on three targets for just eight yards in coverage. He even managed a pass breakup.
Chicago Bears: Jackson not as bad as described
It is therefore unclear why Jackson still incurred the wrath of Hampton. He didn’t look fully engaged on one of the rushing touchdowns, but his performance in coverage wasn’t nearly as bad as the 65-year-old described.
Jackson was a fourth-round pick by the Bears in the 2017 draft. Since then, he has been named All-Pro once (2018) and to the Pro Bowl twice. He has been a starter since his rookie season and has so far had 14 interceptions (3 TD) and 426 tackles. He also carried three fumbles into the end zone for touchdowns. Jackson has also only missed ten games in six years in his entire career.
Hampton, in turn, played his entire career (1979-1990) with the Bears and was part of the legendary 1985 team that won Super Bowl XX.