PITTSBURGH — J.C. Jackson was admittedly excited when he learned his assignment for Week 15. The undrafted rookie was tasked with covering Pittsburgh Steelers leading receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster.
When Sunday’s game started, Ben Roethlisberger didn’t wait to test the rookie.
“Yeah, they came at me,” Jackson said. “Even on the first play, they tried to go deep.”
One positive take away in the Patriots 17-10 loss was the play of the secondary. Stephon Gilmore held All-Pro receiver Antonio Brown to four catches on seven targets for 49 yards. Meanwhile, Jackson put together his best game as a pro as Smith-Schuster finished with four catches on 10 targets for 40 yards.
It was a confidence booster for Jackson, who is looking more and more like the Patriots No. 2 cornerback.
“I mean, yeah, JuJu, they were talking about it all week. He’s a go-to guy. He’s a great receiver,” Jackson said. “I just had to step up. That was my guy the whole game. I just had to do what’s best for my team and not let him catch the ball, be physical with him. That’s what I did all game.”
Even when Smith-Schuster made a catch, Jackson made it difficult. With 52 seconds left in the first quarter, Smith-Schuster made a leaping grab over Jackson for 22 yards. The rookie had perfect coverage, but it still wasn’t enough. At 6:06 of the second, Roethlisberger was intercepted by Duron Harmon when trying to go to Smith-Schuster, who was being covered by Jackson.
“He did great. Every week, his role has expanded,” Harmon said. “He’s been able to play lights out. Smith-Schuster’s been putting on a show all year, and for him to go out there and play the way he did, it speaks volumes on the type of player he is and the type of player he’s going to become.”
Jackson’s biggest play came with 2:34 left in the contest. On third down, at the 30-yard line, Roethlisberger tied to hit Smith-Schuster in the end zone. He nearly did, but Jackson was able to knock the ball out of the receiver’s hands at the last moment.
WHEN IT came to the Patriots offense, the unit was constantly taking one step forward and two steps back.
Out of the 14 penalties, nine of those moved the offense back – false start (five), offensive holding (three) and an illegal formation. The holding and false start calls really hurt the Pats on their final three drives.
Their final series, which ended in an incompletion, saw the chains moved backward twice with a false start and then a holding call right after the Pats got to the 11-yard line. On the series before, it was another holding call that pushed the Patriots back when they got to the 5-yard line.
After the game, Tom Brady said an official told him they were trying to call holding penalties “tighter.”
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