Seat is heating up for Chargers HC Brandon Staley after rift with top CB
The Los Angeles Chargers (1-2) signed J.C. Jackson to a five-year, $82.5 million contract last the offseason, but the 27-year-old cornerback was a healthy scratch in Sunday’s 28-24 win over the Minnesota Vikings.
The move didn’t appear to pay off as Kirk Cousins threw for 367 yards and three touchdowns while Justin Jefferson put up 149 yards and a score on seven receptions, leaving Jackson to question why head coach Brandon Staley wouldn’t want him out on the field.
"I told (Brandon Staley) what else do you expect me to do?” Jackson said, via NFL.com. “I've been doing everything. I came back from my injury pretty fast. I've been putting in extra work after practice, even in meeting rooms. The DBs, every Friday, we all meet to do extra film and being a good teammate, so I don't know what it is. I'm still kind of confused and still don't have answers to why I'm getting treated like this."
Jackson played 85 snaps through the first two weeks, allowing six receptions on 13 targets for 118 yards with four passes defensed and an interception, per Pro Football Focus. He’s one of two Chargers CBs to allow a completion percentage below 50 and the only defensive back with an interception.
Benching arguably his top cornerback against the NFL passing yards and receiving yards leader wasn’t the only questionable decision Staley made Sunday. His over-aggressiveness on a fourth-and-1 from his own 24-yard line with 1:51 left and holding a four-point lead nearly led to disaster.
A failed halfback run up the middle turned the ball over on downs to Minnesota just yards away from the red zone. Fortunately for Staley, an end-zone interception by linebacker Kenneth Murray ended the Vikings scoring threat after they drove to the 6.
“His seat is really hot,” NFL Network analyst Michael Robinson recently said. “I mean, honestly, not just for the analytics that he leans on all the time, but he’s a defensive guru and this is the worst defense in the National Football League. They’re giving up 450 yards a game — 450 — I thought that was a misprint. That’s real, and he’s a defensive guru. That can’t happen.”
The Chargers have the 31st-ranked defense in the NFL, allowing 450.8 yards per game. They rank 15th against the run (113.7 yards per game allowed) but are 28th in scoring defense (29 points per game allowed) and last against the pass (337 yards per game allowed).
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