Chargers’ J.C. Jackson accepts blame for gaffes in Miami loss – Orange County Register

Chargers cornerback J.C. Jackson, right, breaks up a pass intended for Miami wide receiver Tyreek Hill during the first half Sunday, Sept. 10, 2023, at SoFi Stadium. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)

COSTA MESA — J.C. Jackson on Wednesday acknowledged everything that was so evident Sunday, when it was clear he wasn’t playing like the All-Pro cornerback he is during an error-filled performance in the Chargers’ 36-34 loss to the Miami Dolphins. He refused to make excuses, though.

Jackson accepted responsibility for a needless and costly pass interference penalty with no time on the halftime clock that set up a 41-yard field goal for the Dolphins, which resulted in three free points in what turned out to be a two-point game. He called it “a bad mistake by me.”

“I take full blame for that,” he said. “I should have been paying attention to the clock and everything around me. I was just playing football, but I’ve got to know. The coach (Brandon Staley) was talking about situational football. I’ve got to know what situation we were in. It’s me. More attention to the game. More detail.”

Jackson also said he should have just “taken a knee” after intercepting a pass from Miami quarterback Tua Tagovailoa in the end zone instead of running it out. The Chargers then went three-and-out, punting from their own end zone. Tagovailoa then hit Tyreek Hill for a 35-yard touchdown on the next play.

Hill sprinted past Jackson for the third-quarter score, giving Miami a 27-24 lead.

“It’s not a situational thing,” Jackson said. “Me, personally, I should have just taken a knee. Coach was cool with it. He was like, ‘Take it out, go for six.’ It was a good play. I stopped them from getting six points. It’s always good creating turnovers on defense. That’s what I’m going to do. That’s what I’m here for.”

In the end, it was a game to forget in Jackson’s return from a season-ending knee injury. He admitted Wednesday he was not 100% recovered from a ruptured right patellar tendon, an injury he suffered Oct. 23, but was “working my way to being 100 percent and playing all four quarters.”

“It’s a long season, man,” said Jackson, who played 44 of 67 possible snaps, as the coaching staff held him to a predetermined count. “That’s Week 1. We’ve got a whole season ahead of us. That’s what I’m looking for. My goal is to stay healthy throughout the whole season, not just one game.”

Rewatching his play Sunday on film was frustrating, Jackson acknowledged.

But maybe it was a needed wakeup for him and his teammates.

“Trust me, anybody loses and it’s frustrating, but I would say sometimes you have to lose – you know what I’m saying? – to get to where you’re trying to go,” he said. “To have success, you have to fail first. So, maybe our team needed that, you know what I’m saying? OK, maybe our team needed that loss to wake everybody the (expletive) up and humble everybody, you know what I’m saying?

“We can’t let Miami beat us in our own house. Come on, what are we going to do, man? But I’m not on to Miami. I’m on to Tennessee. This is Week 2.”

The Chargers (0-1) face the Tennessee Titans (0-1) on Sunday in Nashville.

“It’s a long season,” Jackson said. “We’re building. We’re going to get everything together. We’re going to be where we need to be.”

Staley, in a video conference call on Monday, defended Jackson’s play. Staley said there was plenty of blame to go around for giving up Tagovailoa’s 466 yards passing. There were more breakdowns and failures in the Chargers’ secondary than could be pinned on just one player.

As he did Sunday, Staley accepted responsibility for the defeat.

“Let me first state that there were a lot of guys that had tough days (Sunday) in the secondary,” Staley said. “It would be one thing if it was one person in our secondary, and it would be that easy to point to somebody, but our secondary didn’t play a good game (Sunday), and it starts with me. I’m the one responsible for that and for putting them in better positions. It was J.C.’s first game back after a really tough injury and I thought that he was able to make it through most of the game.”