Bears safety Eddie Jackson flew to the Chicago area Wednesday on a commercial flight, wearing a facemask at the airline’s suggestion. His custom-made mask — with his Alabama and Bears colors and numbers, made by a friend’s mom — sat around his neck Thursday as he drove down the street during a video chat.
“It’s totally different, man — waking up, going into stores, restaurants, different places, malls, just having to put on a facemask,” he said. “It’s different, but it’s something you get adjusted to it.
“Man, I’m just ready to get back. I don’t care if they tell us to wear a facemask in [Halas Hall]. They just need to let us back in the building.”
Jackson has been eager to take the practice field since minutes after the Bears season finale, when he began touting 2020 as the team’s year.
“You know, I really miss football — and it’s, like, I don’t know if I can say it enough,” he said. “I’d give up anything right now just to go sit in a meeting room right now, just to watch film with my teammates.
“It’s crazy because … you get a break, you want a break and then, ‘Alright, you’re by the field, you start missing football. Now its just, ‘We went this long?’ I feel like this is the longest I’ve ever went without having football.”
It presents a practical challenge for the defensive backfield, the only area of the Bears’ defense tasked with incorporating new starters. When Jackson was asked how the defense could maintain the momentum of the last two years, he used one word: “Chemistry.” But how does a team develop chemistry when no one can be in the same room together until at least late July?
“We need to get better in the defensive backs room,” he said. “All of that really starts with building relationships with guys.”
In part because they signed Jackson to a monster extension in January — he’ll make $58.4 million over four years — the Bears retooled their defensive backfield on the cheap.
They signed Tashaun Gipson to a veteran minimum deal — he figures to start over Deon Bush and replace Ha Ha Clintox-Dix, who joined the Cowboys. After cutting cornerback Prince Amukamara to create salary cap space, the Bears drafted Utah cornerback Jaylon Johnson in the second round. He’s the favorite beat out former Steelers first-round pick Artie Burns, ex-CFL star Tre Roberson and third-year player Kevin Toliver.
Slot cornerback Buster Skrine is an old friend of Gipson’s from their days playing on the Browns. Wednesday, he described Gipson as an instinctive competitor and said, later, that everyone knows the Bears are auditioning No. 2 cornerbacks.
“Coming to training camp, it’s going to be interesting,” Skrine said. “I’m excited to see how the battles go.”
There’s an added level of comfort, Jackson said, in entering Year 2 of coordinator Chuck Pagano’s scheme. Pagano has been teaching players what happens at other positions, so they know the job of the man next to them.
“I feel like this Year 2 is going to be amazing for our defense — just being here already understanding guys’ positions and where your help is, that helps you play more freely,” Jackson said. “That’s probably the biggest thing.”
Jackson can’t wait to see it in action.
“For us,” he said, “we’re going to pick up right where we left off at, but … better. We’re going to get better at a lot of different things.”
