Jackson taking early success in stride
You can try all you want to get Don Jackson to brag about leading the CFL in rushing after Week 1 of the season, but he’s not going to indulge you.
Of course Jackson is aware that the 87 yards he put up on the ground against the Hamilton Tiger-cats have him sitting atop the rushing leaderboard, but he really, genuinely does not seem to care.
So no, fans shouldn’t expect Jackson to start declaring that he’s the new big thing in the CFL or the next great Stampeders running back who will make the crowds at Mcmahon Stadium forget all about Jerome Messam, Jon Cornish and Joffrey Reynolds.
That’s not Jackson’s style. He just wants to work.
“My girl showed me, but like I said, I don’t feed into that. It’s way too early,” Jackson said Thursday. “I notice that I’m moving forward but if I’m being honest, to my own expectations (the performance in Week 1) isn’t enough, either.
“I still want to go higher and keep earning my team’s respect.”
Jackson and Terry Williams split time at running back against the Ticats and the Stampeders look likely to employ the tandem in a similar manner on Saturday in Toronto against the Argonauts.
Williams started the Ticats game as the team’s primary kick return option and Jackson took the first couple of series at running back, although both guys alternated at the position throughout the game.
“Both, as far as runners there, I thought it was a similar game,” said Stampeders coach Dave Dickenson. “They both blocked well, they stepped up, they helped out on defensive ends as well as linebackers.
“They both ran the ball hard, got extra yards and Don, I thought, had a little bit of an edge because he got more touches and obviously took advantage of it.”
From the coaching staff to the men running the ball, the Stamps are insisting that the current arrangement shouldn’t be seen as a starter/backup situation and that whoever is finding ways to move the ball the most is going to stay in the game.
“I like our running back position,” Dickenson said. “I think you’ve gotta use them both. Both are going to play some special teams, too. Give (both) some touches and ride the hot hand in the fourth quarter.”
For Jackson, learning his role with the Stampeders is as much about what he does when the ball’s not in his hands as it is about the yards he picks up after Bo Levi Mitchell delivers him the ball.