So far, Texans are finding safety in numbers
Former cornerback Jackson makes smooth transition
Kareem Jackson is providing ammunition for everyone convinced the Texans would not have struggled as bad at New England if their best players had played more in the preseason.
In his transition from cornerback to safety, Jackson received considerable playing time in the first three preseason games, and it showed in his performance against the Patriots.
In the Texans’ 27-20 defeat, was there a better player on the field than Jackson?
In the first game of his ninth season, Jackson performed as if he’d played safety his entire career. He made a game-high eight unassisted tackles and forced two fumbles.
How impressive was his performance? Jackson became the first Texan to have at least eight solo tackles and two forced fumbles.
He was the first player to have at least eight total tackles, including assists, and two forced fumbles since inside linebacker Brian Cushing in 2011.
And Jackson was the first player to force multiple fumbles since cornerback Johnathan Joseph in 2014.
K-Jack was jacked. At 5-10 and 183 pounds, Jackson doesn’t look like a safety who likes to get physical and take on running backs, tight ends and receivers — whoever has the ball. But he’s developed that safety’s mentality through the years, and it showed at Gillette Stadium.
Because cornerback Kevin Johnson is out with a concussion and won’t be returning any time soon, the secondary has Joseph and Aaron Colvin as the starters. As for the reserves, Johnson Bademosi’s strength is on special teams, and Kayvon Webster is still recovering from surgery on his Achilles tendon.
On Monday, the coaches were considering using Jackson at corner for Sunday’s game at Tennessee, but they might not want to tinker with success. Safety has become one of the team’s strengths with Jackson’s move, the signing of Tyrann Mathieu and the drafting of Justin Reid.
“That’s a possibility,” coach Bill O’Brien said this week when he was asked about Jackson also being used at cornerback. “That’s why it’s good to have a guy like Kareem.
“The issue is Kareem played well at safety. To move him over to corner, that’s not the easiest decision to make, because he played a heck of a game at safety. He and Mathieu played good.”
In his first game with the Texans, Mathieu had an interception and a fumble recovery. He and Jackson go together like Houston and humidity. Why break them up unless the coaches absolutely have to?
Here’s an interesting item on Jackson and Joseph, who have been teammates since 2011, when Joseph signed as a free agent from Cincinnati. In their seven seasons playing together, opponents have the league’s second-lowest completion percentage (58.1 percent) against the Texans.
During that same period, opponents have averaged 215.2 passing yards a game, third best among NFL defenses.
A lot goes into those statistics, of course, but there are only three constants — Jackson, Joseph and J.J. Watt. And Watt missed 24 games the last two seasons because of injuries.
In 2017, his last full season at corner, where he usually covered slot receivers, Jackson was terrific, but his performance got lost in a 4-12 season nobody expected and everyone wants to forget.
Jackson missed the first two games and returned for the last 14, making a career-high 73 tackles. He finished fifth among NFL corners in tackles. He had nine games with at least five tackles, third among cornerbacks.
When the Titans’ coaches started to analyze the Texans’ defense and develop their game plan, new coach Mike Vrabel told them all about Jackson. In his four seasons under O’Brien, Vrabel watched Jackson in practice every day and developed a healthy respect for the versatile veteran.
As the defensive coordinator last season, Vrabel lost players like Watt, Cushing, Whitney Mercilus, D.J. Reader, Christian Covington and Brennan Scarlett but knew he could count on Jackson.
Now Vrabel is preparing to go against Jackson, who may be coming off the best game of his career. But as Jackson and Vrabel know, Sunday is gone, and they’re only looking in one direction — ahead.
If Jackson excels against the Titans, stays healthy and continues to make big plays, we may start using his name in the same sentence with Pro Bowl.