Since that moment, Jackson said he and Allen have built a special connection through the coach’s leadership, wisdom and ability to effectively communicate with his players. So when Jackson was released by the Saints at the end of training camp in August before being signed by the Bears a day later, those same feelings from draft night flooded his mind.
“When I got the call to come here, it was another sense of relief of knowing like, ‘Okay, this is my next step,’ the relief of knowing who I’m getting in Dennis Allen,” Jackson said. “I know who he is, what type of person, what type of coach I’m getting. I love being in the building with him. I love working with him. His jokes, how he repeats them all the time, but it’s just funny still just to hear them.”
At least for now, Jackson’s favorite moment with Allen is celebrating the Sunday’s win and the defense’s dominant performance together.
While Jackson felt a strong sense of pride radiating from Allen during his locker room speech, more importantly, he watched as the larger group reciprocated the energy.
“Guys are already bought in, but just going that extra mile, I’m a firm believer that you can go so much further together,” Jackson said. “Especially from a coach’s standpoint, a player can only go as far as the relationship with their coaches and them feeling a little bit of fight back. So, him expressing that vulnerability and having guys huddling around him and believing in him, it just builds an even tighter bond of our defensive unit.”
Through six games, the defense sure looks bought in to the message Allen has been preaching since the day he was hired.
“We want to be an attacking, aggressive style of defense,” he said Jan. 30. “We want to take the fight to the offense and not let the offense dictate the tempo to us.”
In the Bears’ past four games, the defense has logged 15 takeaways, including at least three in each contest, and leads the NFL with 16 total, including a league-best 11 interceptions. Against New Orleans and quarterback Spencer Rattler, the unit forced a strip sack (Montez Sweat) and three interceptions (Nahshon Wright, Byard and Tremaine Edmunds).
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