Next up for Adoree' Jackson in return is Eagles' A.J. Brown
New York Giants cornerback Adoree' Jackson at practice on Thursday ahead of Saturday's playoff game at the Eagles. Credit: Corey Sipkin
In a Giants season with far more ups than downs, one of the lowest moments was the loss of Adoree’ Jackson, who suffered a knee injury while returning a punt against the Lions on Nov. 20.
That cost the team’s best cornerback seven games and was a blow to the defense down the stretch.
But Sunday in Minneapolis, all of that seemed like ancient history.
Jackson was back in his primary role, taking the lead in shutting down Vikings star receiver Justin Jefferson as the Giants earned a 31-24 Wild Card upset.
Now here we are again with the Giants set to face another star receiver in the Eagles’ A.J. Brown on Saturday in the Divisional Round, not to mention DeVonta Smith.
Brown had 1,496 receiving yards and 11 touchdowns this season; Smith had 1,196 yards and seven TDs.
But this time no one is wondering if Jackson will be up to the task, not after his tour de force against Jefferson.
Jefferson totaled 47 receiving yards, only 10 in the final three quarters.
Jackson said this week that he cherished that opportunity, especially after having had it taken away from him for two months.
“A lot of people say you don’t know when your last snap may be,” Jackson said. “I didn’t know that my last snap was going to be right before Thanksgiving.
“To go through that process and then to finally be out there with everybody being in an atmosphere with them, it’s different than just seeing it and watching them play. To be a collective as a team and be with your brothers, it’s a special feeling.”
Jackson had been coy with reporters for weeks about when he might return, but there was one subject on which he was consistent: that when he did get back on the field, he would not have to work through any physical or mental rust.
As a sixth-year pro, Jackson never doubted his ability to jump back into the deep end of the pool.
After practice on Thursday, he praised several teammates by name — including those on the practice squad — for keeping him sharp and ready.
Then he told Newsday, “You prepare yourself and put yourself in position to make sure that when the storm was over with, you did whatever you had to do to make the sun still shine.”
Jackson did not play in either of the Giants’ two regular-season losses to the Eagles, including a 48-22 rout at MetLife Stadium on Dec. 11.
But he knows Brown well. The two were teammates on the Titans in 2019 and ’20.
“He is just a dog,” Jackson said. “I don’t know any other way to explain it. A guy that gets after it, attacks the ball, can run every route in the playbook; catch you with a screen, go 80, a slant, go 80, or hit you with a deep ball and go 80.
“A complete receiver, can block, can do all the things that you would want. That’s truly a great player.”
Jackson said that even when Brow was a rookie in 2019, he saw in him what the league is seeing now.
“I think he always possessed that mentality to attack, to be different in this league, and you can see that every week,” Jackson said.
So Jackson expects to see the best of Brown on Saturday night, but now Brown must prepare to see Jackson at his best, too.
“I’m happy for the person because he’s worked his tail off,” defensive coordinator Wink Martindale said of Jackson. ”It’s fun seeing him smile out on the field again. And he’s the No. 1 corner. It was huge for him to come back.”
Neil Best first worked at Newsday in 1982, returned in 1985 after a detour to Alaska and has been here since, specializing in high schools, college basketball, the NFL and most recently sports media and business.
