Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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By that point in the year it was too late to do anything about it. Notre Dame's secondary needed Jackson to fill the thin-andgetting-thinner cornerback position. "I couldn't get the surgery," Jackson said. "I would have had to sit out basically, and I couldn't really do that." Playing through pain wasn't a new experience for Jackson. He clocked enough hours in the trainer's office in high school that Amanda Stump joined the list of Raritan folks that makes a trip each year to see him play for the Irish and still talks to him on a regular basis. Jackson successfully tried out for the varsity basketball team as a sopho- don't have a few minutes to wait so that's something that was there mentally," he said. "I don't think it held me back too much really." The stretching and strength-building exercises Jackson used to keep himself on the field during the fall were beginning to lose their effect by the end of the year. The offseason provided the rehab time that he didn't have when the injury first occurred. In January, Jackson elected to have surgery to repair the labrum. "I'm excited to see when I get to 100 percent how it plays out this season," said Jackson. "It's been a blessing for me," Cooks said. "I've always felt like my first few years here I've been kind of short-handed at the cornerback position. But this year, finally, I feel like I've got some depth. Not just depth for bodies, but guys that can go and play. You feel okay with them being out there on the field." Dealing With A Loss The expected and conditioned response from an athlete in the aftermath of a bad loss is to draw motivation from it. Under the circumstances, what else is he going to say? Making that leap, though, is easier said Jackson became the first Irish cornerback to record four interceptions in one season since 2006 (Mike Richardson, four). more on a toe that he had broken the day before in the final football game of the season. He did his best to hide the limp from Stump. The junior started all 13 games last season while trying not to reveal the favor with which he treated his right side. He couldn't sleep on the shoulder. He couldn't properly get his hands over his head to catch a ball at its highest point. He couldn't jam a wide receiver with his full strength for fear that it might jar the ball-and-socket joint out of whack again. When his shoulder did pop loose during the course of the game, Jackson rarely had time to let the feeling return to his arm before he was back on the field. "It'd be numb for a few minutes, but you However, he was not fully recovered for spring practice and didn't participate in contact drills. He took most of those 15 practices to learn more from a coach's perspective as much as a player's. "I see a lot more things on the sideline," Jackson said about his role this spring. "I can't really do too much physically, so I've tried to add myself in as that extended coach." Jackson helped younger players like freshman All-American KeiVarae Russell and junior Josh Atkinson pick apart their games during the spring. In doing so, he was able to better understand the nuances that cornerbacks coach Kerry Cooks was telling him he needed to improve. photo by bill panzica than done for many. The missed opportunities, what he could have done differently, stick in the mind of someone who sees losing the way Jackson does. It can nibble away at your focus and keep you from doing what the rest of the world expects. "I feel like they don't know because they don't know the feeling. It's not easy," Jackson said. "If you're a competitive person it should be easier to understand. Why would you want to lose?" It wasn't always easy for Jackson, but he's making the leap. With full health and a sharpened focus, he's charging into 2013 as a leader of the Irish defense trying to make sure he and his teammates don't feel that way again. ✦ Blue & Gold Illustrated 2013 Football Preview ✦ 99 96-99.Bennett Jackson.indd 99 6/25/13 11:13 AM