Bears safety Eddie Jackson made a name for himself by taking the ball away from offenses during his first two seasons in the NFL.
Jackson had eight interceptions and five fumble recoveries in 30 games the last two years. He multiplied the benefit of those takeaways by scoring five touchdowns, but things haven’t played out the same way this year.
Jackson has recovered one fumble, but has no interceptions through the first nine games and admitted that the drought is getting to him.
“This is the longest I’ve ever been in my life without an interception, without a touchdown -- ever,” Jackson said, via the Chicago Sun-Times. “So it’s getting stressful. I’m just happy we won this last game, but being that type of competitor, you want the ball. It’s gonna come. That’s all I keep telling myself.”
The Bears defense has seen a similar downturn across the board. They led the league in takeaways with 36 during the 2018 season, but have 12 to this point in the season and five of them came against Washington in Week Three.
That change is among the reasons why the Bears are 4-5 and getting Jackson and company back in the groove would be a step in the right direction in the second half of the year.