Patriots head coach Bill Belichick and cornerbacks coach Mike Pellegrino have tried their best to downplay the significance of cornerback J.C. Jackson riding the bench at the start of last Sunday’s loss to the Commanders, but it looks like that will be more difficult in the future.
NFL Media reports that Jackson will not travel with the team to Germany for this Sunday’s game against the Colts in Frankfurt. Per the report, “questions about his reliability” led to the decision and the hope is that Jackson will return to the team in a better place after missing this week and a bye in Week 11.
Belichick and Pellegrino declined to say why Jackson didn’t play on the first two defensive series last Sunday, but Albert Breer of SI.com reports that Jackson was late to the team’s hotel last Saturday and that was part of the reason why the veteran opened the game on the bench.
Jackson left the Patriots to sign with the Chargers in 2022, but returned to New England in an October trade after Patriots rookie Christian Gonzalez’s season-ending injury. Chargers General Manager Tom Telesco reportedly apologized to Chargers players for signing Jackson after the trade and the decision to bring him back isn’t looking much better right now.