The highest-paid defender on the Washington Commanders a $13.8 million salary cap hit, cornerback William Jackson III, was noticeably absent from the field during most of Sunday’s 21-17 loss to the Tennesee Titans.
Jackson, who was the target of some very vocal criticism last week, played just 15 defensive snaps out of a possible 64. Filling in for the veteran was second-year man Benjamin St-Juste.
After the game, head coach Ron Rivera offered a curt explanation as to last year’s free agent signing’s absence.
“Well, we just decided to make a change,” Rivera told the media. When asked why, he added, “Because we decided to.”
“We make decisions based on the flow of the game,” Rivera would later add about whether a missed tackle was the reason Jackson was pulled. “[Changing corners] was one of the things that was decided on.”
Jackson had the second-lowest defensive grade of the game from Pro Football Focus (35.9). But his replacement St-Juste only tallied a 44.2, the third-lowest on the Commanders defense.
Jackson was in coverage 10 times, targeted twice, and allowed two catches for 20 yards, including seven yards after the catch. St-Juste was in coverage 29 times, targeted five times, and allowed three receptions for 32 yards, including 18 yards after the catch.
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After the game, Jackson had a different answer when he spoke with reporters, telling them he came out of the game on his own due to a bulging disk in his back, the same injury which kept him out of the Week 3 defeat to the Philadelphia Eagles.
“I fight through it for my teammates, but you know, things happen,” Jackson said, via The Post. “[I was] just playing through hurt. [It] just seemed better to let somebody else go in. I got a disk, and there’s nothing else I can do about it.”
Benched or a back injury? With the coach saying one thing and the player another, it could spell the end of the corner’s time in Washington, or possibly a significant reduction in playing time.
If this benching is the end of his time in DC, the Commanders could trade him before the end of the month and take a large cap hit. Keeping him on the roster through the season and releasing him in the summer would result in only a $3 million hit, per Over the Cap.
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Now, when asked for clarification on Monday, Rivera acknowledged the back injury, but didn’t say Jackson left the game because of it.
"Well, for the most part, we pulled him," Rivera said when asked about the different stories from Sunday. "And he did have a back [issue] because remember he missed the game with the bad back, I believe it was Philadelphia."
So does that mean Jackson sat due to the injury?
“Well, we pulled him, we’ll leave it at that,” Rivera answered.
Does that clear things up?
The Commanders released an injury report estimation based on the team’s walkthrough ahead of Thursday night’s game in Chicago. Jackson was listed with a back injury and a full participant.
Follow @BenKrimmel and @Team980 for the latest.
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