Friday morning, safety Eddie Jackson took to Twitter to point out how many times the ball was thrown his way in the Bears’ 20-19 win against the Buccaneers: zero.
He said Wednesday that he knows it’s a sign of respect.
“But I like playing football,” he said. “I like being challenged, so I want to be targeted, you know? It’s more opportunity to make plays.
“If you don’t get no targets, you don’t really have any opportunities to make plays on the ball. So that’s something that I, you know, just kinda have that confidence to be like, ‘OK, you want to talk like that? Go on and target me then.’ I’m up for the challenge.”
He was the last time the Bears played the Panthers. In 2017, he returned a fumble 75 yards for a touchdown and an interception 76 yards for a score. He became the first player in NFL history with multiple defensive touchdowns of 75 yards or more.
“We talk about it all the time, in terms of not getting too frustrated when you’re not getting the targets and the action that you want to come your way,” safeties coach Sean Desai said Tuesday. “Then, mastering all the other stuff that you can do and impact the game on. I think it’s shown over the first few weeks of the season where he has impacted it.”
