(670 The Score) Bears safety Eddie Jackson came under heavy criticism recently after a missed tackle of his proved costly in his team's loss to the Packers on Oct. 17.
Later that night after the loss to Green Bay, Jackson saw one of the critiques, responding to Bears great Lance Briggs’ strong comments about his tackling effort with a since-deleted tweet in which he unearthed a Pro Football Focus statistic from 2011 that didn't reflect well on Briggs’ tackling at that current moment in time.
In his first public comments since, Jackson on Tuesday maintained that he doesn't regret the tweet toward Briggs – and responded to those questioning his effort on the field.
"Regret? I wouldn't say too much of regret because I feel like it's football,” Jackson said. “For me, the type of player I am, I feel like you should never question my effort. Making the tackle, I know I have to make that tackle. Don't nobody go out there and want to miss a tackle. You know you have to get the guy to the ground. But when it comes to questioning effort and playing ability, we have all been here before. We all as players know how it feels when you go out there laying everything on the line trying to be aggressive, things like that are going to happen. You just have to go out there and make your plays.
“When the effort part gets to questioning, that's the part I have to say something about. I can take direct criticism. I went to Alabama. Coach (Nick) Saban always coached us on that. You have to learn how to take direct criticism. It's not about that, it's about the effort part. Like I said, we just have to continue to fight, push through and block all that stuff out.
“Effort doesn’t play a role in that. I’m out there giving it everything I’ve got.”
Jackson’s missed tackle came during the fourth quarter of the Bears’ 24-14 loss to the Packers. With the Bears trailing 17-14, Jackson missed on receiver Davante Adams, who went on to finish a 41-yard completion. Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers soon capped that drive with a six-yard touchdown run that put the game out of reach.
“His name keeps coming up for the wrong reasons,” Briggs said on NBC Sports Chicago that day. “His name keeps coming up for reasons as, you are the safety. You are the last line of defense. When you come up and you make that hit on Davante Adams and he gets past you, it’s going to be a touchdown, kid. You have to make that play. Get him down by any means necessary.”