{"id":1315487,"date":"2019-10-09T22:52:00","date_gmt":"2019-10-10T04:52:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.postindependent.com\/kareem-jackson-fits-right-in-at-safety-for-broncos\/"},"modified":"2019-10-09T22:52:00","modified_gmt":"2019-10-10T04:52:00","slug":"kareem-jackson-fits-right-in-at-safety-for-broncos","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/local-news\/kareem-jackson-fits-right-in-at-safety-for-broncos\/","title":{"rendered":"Kareem Jackson fits right in at safety for Broncos"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Denver Broncos defensive back Kareem Jackson, left, forces a fumble by Los Angeles Chargers running back Austin Ekeler at the goal line during the first half of an NFL football game Sunday, Oct. 6, 2019, in Carson, Calif. (AP Photo\/Marcio Jose Sanchez)<\/strong>
AP | AP<\/em><\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n

ENGLEWOOD, Colo. \u2014 Exhibit No. 1 in support of Vic Fangio\u2019s desire to convert Kareem Jackson into a fulltime strong safety is the 10th-year pro\u2019s jackhammering, fumble-causing, touchdown-saving, touchback-inducing, bone-crunching hit of Chargers running back Austin Ekeler .<\/p>\n

On fourth-and-goal from the 1 and with 7 seconds remaining in the half, Ekeler lined up on the right side of the offense, then raced in front of Philip Rivers, taking the toss and eyeing the goal line. Cornerback Isaac Yiadom came free, forcing Ekeler to bow his path to the pylon.<\/p>\n

Jackson darted parallel to the goal line and speared L.A.\u2019s tough tailback, jarring the ball loose a foot from the end zone, preserving Denver\u2019s 17-0 halftime lead and maybe even saving their season.<\/p>\n

\u201cThose are the types of plays we had envisioned when we brought Kareem in here to play safety,\u201d Fangio said after Denver avoided the first 0-5 start in franchise history with a 20-13 win.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s always been a part of me,\u201d Jackson said of the reputation he built as one of the league\u2019s hardest-hitting defensive backs during nine seasons in Houston.<\/p>\n

The Texans tried converting him to safety last season, but injuries in their secondary forced him back to cornerback by October, and he ended up playing the best season of his career, posting 87 tackles, breaking up 17 passes and forcing two fumbles, all career highs.<\/p>\n

Jackson parlayed that production into a three-year, $33 million free agent deal with Denver, where he had one of the highlight hits of his career four months earlier, a jaw-dropping, bone-rattling hit of Broncos running back Phillip Lindsay.<\/p>\n

Or, as GM John Elway exclaimed when introducing Jackson, \u201cKareem welcomed Phillip Lindsay to the NFL.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jackson ranked that hit as \u201c1B\u201d on his career highlight reel, just behind his stop of a similarly undersized running back with the Vikings.<\/p>\n

He wasn\u2019t sure this week where to rank his play on Ekeler but he did say, \u201cIt was my first time in my career getting the chance to be in that position to make that type of play.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Broncos\u2019 plans to play Jackson at safety were interrupted last month. Because of CB Bryce Callahan\u2019s lingering issues with his surgically repaired left foot, Jackson played the nickel for the first three weeks. Then, a tight hamstring sidelined him against the Jaguars, who capitalized on his absence with a 269-yard rushing performance at Denver in Week 4.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe definitely missed him against Jacksonville,\u201d free safety Justin Simmons said. \u201cObviously, things are better when he\u2019s out there.\u201d<\/p>\n

In his first full game at strong safety, Jackson\u2019s 10 tackles led the team and the Broncos allowed just 35 yards on the ground.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe all see what he can do at safety,\u201d cornerback Chris Harris Jr. said. \u201cHe\u2019s a major impact for us there. To be able to just play free and roam and be able to have open-field tackles, that\u2019s definitely something that we needed in the middle of the field.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mike Vrabel, whose Tennessee Titans (2-3) visit Denver on Sunday, coached in Houston from 2014-17 and said his \u201ctoughness, versatility, instincts\u201d all allowed Jackson to move so seamlessly to safety.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s active, he\u2019s disruptive, he can cover, he can trigger (sudden reaction),\u201d Vrabel said. \u201cHe made a fantastic touchdown-saving play last week, plays with great effort, cares about the team, throws his body around.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Broncos\u2019 secondary shuffle shows no sign of abating. The team placed CB De\u2019Vante Bausby (neck) on IR after he was temporarily paralyzed on Sunday and signed eighth-year pro Coty Sensabaugh, who is out to prove he should have been in somebody\u2019s training camp this summer.<\/p>\n

\u201cI feel like I was one of the best corners in free agency this offseason,\u201d Sensabaugh said before his first practice Wednesday. \u201cAnd here\u2019s my chance to go prove it.\u201d<\/p>\n

He could get that opportunity soon because Yiadom, despite his heads-up play that allowed Jackson to meet Ekeler in the nick of time, has been dogged by penalties and poor play in his second season.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s got to go out and make some plays so he can be confident. I don\u2019t think he is at this moment,\u201d Fangio said. \u201cBut he\u2019s going to have to change that and it isn\u2019t going to be by going to sit on somebody\u2019s couch and get talked into it. You have to go out there and make a play or two to regain your confidence.\u201d<\/p>\n

No matter his rotation, Fangio wants to keep Jackson at strong safety.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou can argue he can play other positions better than the people we have there,\u201d Fangio said. \u201cWe\u2019ve got to weigh all that in the final analysis, but it would be my preference to keep him at safety.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jackson\u2019s, too.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m pretty comfortable there,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

via:: Post Independent<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Denver Broncos defensive back Kareem Jackson, left, forces a fumble by Los Angeles Chargers running back Austin Ekeler at the goal line during the first half of an NFL football game Sunday, Oct. 6, 2019, in Carson, Calif. (AP Photo\/Marcio Jose Sanchez)AP | AP ENGLEWOOD, Colo. \u2014 Exhibit No. 1 in support of Vic Fangio\u2019s […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[160],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1315487","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","category-local-news"],"acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-09-06 19:38:39","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"KSKE Ski Country","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske","push-errors":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1315487","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1315487"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1315487\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1315487"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1315487"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1315487"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}