Chicago Bears: Eddie Jackson emerging as leader on defense

Even though he’s in just his second season, Chicago Bears safety Eddie Jackson looks and plays the part of a leader, continuing to earn that title.

The Chicago Bears are in first place in the NFC North as they head into their bye week. They’ve surprised many by getting impressive wins. While the offense has been up and down, the defense looks elite. The unit wanted to be a top-five but they’re the best, most intimidating defense around. The Monsters of the Midway are back.

Of course, the top guy on the defense is Khalil Mack. When the Bears made the deal to bring him over it changed everything. He was the missing piece to take the defense from top-ten to the top. He’s been playing MVP-like all season.

There are other pieces to that defense, however. Akiem Hicks (his ejection in Week 4 notwithstanding) continues to play at a high level. He’s been doing that since he got to Chicago. Eddie Goldman may not get the attention but he is solid in the middle.

One other player impressing is Eddie Jackson. He may be only a second-year player, but he’s playing at a high level. He continually makes big plays and is emerging as one of the team leaders.

Chicago Bears head coach Matt Nagy spoke about how well Jackson’s play is and why he’s becoming a leader, per The Daily Times:

"He makes plays. He’s energetic; he’s a leader back there in that defensive backfield, and he has a lot of confidence in himself. So that kind of just (resonates) with all the players. They feel that and anytime you make plays out there, you get ultimate respect from your peers."

In Week 3 against the Arizona Cardinals, the Bears trailed 14-3 in the third quarter and needed a big play. In comes Jackson and gets an interception. It was what the defense needed to wake up. It was the first of four straight turnovers the Bears forced. It would have been five when Jackson got a pick-six but it got nullified by an offsides penalty. He knew the Bears needed a play and he got it.

"We needed a play, man. We were over on the sideline saying, ‘It just takes one play. It just takes one big play.’ Fortunately, it came to me."

Jackson also got an interception against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in Week 4.

What was interesting with Jackson happened after the Chicago Bears’ collapse in Week 1 against the Green Bay Packers. They owned a 20-0 lead but lost the game 24-23. While many talked about players being gassed at the end of the game or Nagy making bad play calls, Jackson put it succinctly:

"The whole team got lazy. We got too complacent, especially on the defensive side of the ball. We didn’t finish. We came out the first half swinging. The energy was there. The second half I felt like the energy was low. Everybody got complacent, and we lost focus that we still had a game to finish."

Leaders speak up and say things that need to be said. It was great to see Jackson speak up and greater to see the other players not knock him for opening his mouth. We’ve seen times when a player speaks up and it turns into a mess because the other players don’t accept the messenger. Jackson is accepted as a leader.

Jackson was a leader in the University of Alabama’s locker room. Now he’s taken his talents to Chicago and is doing the same for the Bears. Hopefully, he helps lead the Bears into the playoffs.