Jackson not happy with ‘another week’ of ‘BS’ calls in Bears’ loss originally appeared on NBC Sports Chicago
CHICAGO — Eddie Jackson is tired. He is tired of the excuses, tired of the Bears’ defense making the same mistakes, and tired of not giving Justin Fields and the offense enough support.
The veteran safety is also fed up with getting the short end of a bad officiating stick. Jackson called for ref accountability after two questionable pass interference calls in the Bears’ Week 9 loss to the Miami Dolphins.
In the Bears’ 31-30 loss to the Detroit Lions on Sunday, rookie middle linebacker Jack Sanborn had an interception wiped away by a phantom hands to the face flag on Jaylon Johnson. That interception would have given the Bears the ball, leading by 14 with 11:42 remaining.
The game would have effectively been over.
Instead, the interception was taken away, and the Lions scored on the next play to cut the lead to seven and started the Bears’ fourth-quarter meltdown.
“I didn’t really see it,” Jackson said of the flag on Johnson after the loss. “But I heard it was a bad call. Another week of it.”
The Bears were flagged nine times for 86 yards in Sunday’s loss to the Lions. They handed the Lions four first downs via flag, three of which came on the touchdown drive that included Sanborn’s should-have-been interception.
“We already know how the calls go,” Jackson said. “We can’t do nothing about that and just do our job. Stay disciplined. I feel like some of them calls was kind of B.S.”
While the Bears’ offense has been clicking over the last month, the defense has failed to pull its weight. After holding the New England Patriots to 14 points in a Week 7 win, the Bears’ defense has given up 49, 35, and 31, respectively, over the last three weeks.
In doing so, the Bears became the first team to score 29 or more points in three straight games and not record one win.
It was clear Sunday that the frustration and inability to help quarterback Justin Fields and the offense is getting to Jackson, one of the lone veteran defensive leaders left on a unit that lost Robert Quinn and Roquan Smith to trades.
“Me, the type of player I am, it just eats me up inside, like I’m just not helping,” Jackson said. “Especially myself, you know, I want to go out there and make every play if I can. We got to be better on D, man. We got to get him some help. What him and the offense is doing, it’s something different. It’s something different. Them boys is balling. I feel like we just leaving them out to dry. Got to get that changed man.”
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Jackson said he was tired of “sounding like a broken record.” That comes to the defense’s issues and the officiating that has cost the Bears in the last two losses.
The Bears are a young, rebuilding team that has to play sound, fundamental football in order to win games. With little margin for error, officiating miscues can be detrimental to their goals.
Without Quinn and Smith, the Bears are outgunned on defense. To scratch and claw only to have a questionable penalty cost you a chance to win in consecutive weeks is a tough pill to swallow.
“That some things we can’t control,” Jackson said. “It sucks. But we have no control over that. We just got to do a better job. Get your hands lower, like we taught to do things. I really didn’t see the play, but I heard Jaylon do what Jaylon does. He jammed the guy at the line, and the ref called the call.
“It’s like, ‘what can we do?’ The NFL is in control of holding them accountable. Not us.”
Jackson wants some accountability. He wants it with the NFL and the officials. He also wants it on a defense that has been gashed in three straight games and keeps beating itself with the same mistakes.
“We got to stop shooting ourselves in the foot,” Jackson said. “I’m tired of standing up here saying the same things every week. It’s just becoming repetitive.
“I’m just tried of sounding like a broken record. Week in, week out. We got to do our job. We got to be better on defense. We got to get this fixed. We got to get this fixed fast.”
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