Those who watched the Cincinnati Bengals last year could never accuse the team of giving up.
The Bengals fought until the bitter end, finally winning games late in the schedule to settle at 2-14 while guys like Shawn Williams battled through injuries.
It turns out cornerback William Jackson did the same.
Jackson opened up about the fact he played last season with a torn labrum with Aaron Wilson of the Houston Chronicle:
“I don’t know how I did it, but I did it. It was cool. I’m just happy I got it done. It was painful every game. You can tell there’s something that’s not supposed to be there.
It’s nagging, and it’s telling you to fix it. It’s a lot of pain. I’m fully healthy and ready to go. I put on some muscle. I play some big receivers this year.”
It’s an impressive note on what was quietly a decent season for Jackson given the injury context and the problems on the unit around him. Those factors help explain why the Bengals were smart to turn down trade offers for Jackson.
Besides Jackson’s incredible upside as a No. 1 corner, the fact he solidered through last year until he couldn’t anymore during a lost season is the sort of leadership Zac Taylor and Co. were trying to infuse into the roster this offseason.
If he’s fully healthy now, Jackson is another serious rebound candidate for the Bengals in 2020.
