Patriots cornerback J.C. Jackson took the blame for his benching, explaining why Bill Belichick disciplined him.
Jackson sat for two possessions of the Washington game in Week 9, though Belichick claimed afterward Jackson and fellow cornerback Jack Jones weren’t benched. Jackson then stayed home as a healthy scratch while the team traveled to Germany.
Jackson told Mark Daniels of masslive.com on Tuesday that he missed multiple bed checks at the Patriots’ team hotel on the Saturday night before the game in Washington.
“What happened was I didn’t travel with the team to Germany. It was a punishment on my behalf, and that’s what it was,” Jackson told Daniels. “I didn’t take it any other way than: This is punishment, and I hope you learn from it and grow from this mistake I made. And I’m here now, so hopefully that won’t happen again. It was all my fault. I made a mistake. That’s what you’re going to get from Bill. That’s one thing about him: He’s going to discipline [you] no matter who you are.”
Jackson played two games with the Chargers this season before he was benched for performance. The Chargers traded him to the Patriots on Oct. 5, allowing Jackson to return to the team that developed him into a Pro Bowl corner.
Jackson said he wasn’t out doing “anything stupid” on Nov. 4, but he wasn’t where he needed to be on time, missing a bed check for the first time in his career.
“Reality check: I’m not bigger than the team. I’m not bigger than nobody in here,” Jackson said. “This is a team sport, and I have to do whatever everybody else is doing. I want to be a part of the team. This is my team. This is home for me, man. This is where I want to be. I don’t want to go nowhere else. I want to finish my career here also. I’ve just got to continue to build that leadership each and every day. It just stinks for me. I kind of played a lot of football. I know what to do at this point.”