D’Marco Jackson, come on down! You are the next contestant in our new favorite game — Who Wants to Start at Linebacker For the Chicago Bears? And it’s a playoff edition, too. What a treat we are in store for on Sunday.
Unlike the left tackle situation, where you could make a case for Theo Benedet or Braxton Jones to start in place of Ozzy Trapilo, the Bears have a slam-dunk replacement ready to rock and roll in place of injured linebacker T.J. Edwards. One who has played at a high level, too. D’Marco Jackson went from being an August waiver claim to winning NFC Defensive Player of the Week honors after a December game against the Cleveland Browns. How does one follow up wiht an encore? Well, making an impact as a starter in the Bears’ NFC Divisional Round playoff game against the Los Angeles Rams would be a good place to start.
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T.J. Edwards waves to the crowd as he is carted off the field with an injury. Mandatory Credit: David Banks-Imagn ImagesD’Marco Jackson gets another chance to shine in the Bears defense
The final Bears injury report ahead of the team’s NFC Divisional Round game against the Los Angeles Rams has mostly good news. Wide receivers DJ Moore and Rome Odunze were upgraded after being limited participants in practice earlier in the week. But I can’t stop thinking about how losing linebacker T.J. Edwards still figures to sting.
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This turned out to be a lost season for Edwards. The 29-year-old linebacker was limited to 10 regular-season games because of a troublesome hamstring injury. He finished the year with just 67 total tackles and having played just 569 defensive snaps. Last year, Edwards set career highs with 4 sacks and 12 tackles-for-loss while chipping in with 129 total tackles (79 solo) and six quarterback hits. Two seasons ago, Edwards was Chicago’s leading tackler (155 total tackles, 91 solo) and a defensive menace. Before signing with the Bears as a free agent in 2023, Edwards had five games of playoff experience. I was hoping Chicago could lean on that in this playoff run. It just wasn’t meant to be.
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Now, that brings us back to D’Marco Jackson. The Bears struck gold when they snagged Jackson as a waiver claim during the summer. But they didn’t know that at the time. Heck, the truth is that nobody knew what they had in Jackson — save for, perhaps, Bears Defensive Coordinator Dennis Allen. Jackson was a fifth-round pick (161st overall) by the New Orleans Saints when Allen was the team’s head coach. And while he was more of a special teams contributor (279 snaps) than a traditional linebacker (73 snaps) while with the Saints, he appeared to find a groove as a linebacker in Chicago. It made for a surprisingly fun development when it happened, too.
Matt Marton-Imagn ImagesD’Marco Jackson was at his best in Week 15, earning Pro Football Focus’ best grade among Bears players in the team’s win against the Cleveland Browns. The 93.1 grade followed a show-stealing performance on that side of the ball in which Jackson collected 7 total tackles, 2 passes defended, 1 quarterback hit, 1 tackle-for-loss, and an interception. Days later, he won the NFC’s Defensive Player of the Week award for his efforts. In his playoff debut last week, Jackson came up with five tackles and a tackle-for-loss after replacing an injured T.J. Edwards. After seeing how well he played against the Packers, I have confidence in him going up against the Rams in the divisional round.
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Of course, it won’t be just Jackson holding down the fort on defense. It will be a group effort. A trio of players who sat out the team’s Wild Card Saturday win against the Green Bay Packers while in concussion protocol are set to return to the lineup this week. It will be nice to have defensive back C.J. Gardner-Johnson, defensive lineman Joe Tryon-Shoyinka, and linebacker Amen Ogbongbemiga back to lend a helping hand. But unless something unexpected happens, it will be D’Marco Jackson’s time to shine with the green dot on his helmet in the middle of Chicago’s defense.
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