Jackson muscling into backfield fray
It doesn't take a peek at the scale to notice running back Brandon Jackson is bigger and buffer than he was when he arrived in Green Bay as a rookie last May.
Jackson said Wednesday he's added 10 to 15 pounds of "the right kind of weight"
during the offseason, and his wide 5-foot-10 frame is carrying 220 pounds, 8 more than his listed weight in 2007.
Players tend to shed pounds through offseason practices as their lifting regimen lightens, so a bulkier physique in June doesn't always, ahem, carry much weight come September. But Packers strength and conditioning coach Rock Gullickson is correct when he says Jackson looks like a different guy than he was a year ago, and Jackson sees the progress, too.
"Mentally and physically,"
Jackson said. "I put on a little weight. It's great. I can run with it and everything. And on the mental side, I know my plays, I study a lot, just to stay refreshed on everything."
None of which is to say Jackson is going to push Ryan Grant for the starting job in training camp, though he has taken the lion's share of first-team reps this spring while Grant awaits a contract resolution.
But coaches have raved about how the former second-round draft pick has built off of a largely disappointing rookie season.
"Tremendous, in the weight room as well as in the meeting rooms,"
running backs coach Edgar Bennett said of Jackson's progress. "Just his confidence level, knowing his assignments, knowing other people's assignments. You can definitely tell that the kid, he's mature, he's growing up, and he's definitely taking ownership. He's doing all the little things, coming in early and staying late. He's an attention-to-detail kind of guy."
The value of having two capable backs was evident during the New York Giants' championship run last season. After leading rusher Derrick Ward landed on injured reserve in early December, power back Brandon Jacobs elevated his game and little Ahmad Bradshaw emerged from obscurity to rush for a team-high 208 yards at a 4.3-yard average in the postseason.
The other candidates to spell Grant aren't inspiring. Injuries have dogged Vernand Morency and DeShawn Wynn, Noah Herron is a career backup coming off a knee injury, and first-year pro Corey White and undrafted rookie Kregg Lumpkin haven't appeared in an NFL game. Those five have a combined 1,202 career yards — little more than the 1,186 Grant posted in the regular season and playoffs last season.
The Packers thought enough of Jackson last year to draft him 63rd overall out of Nebraska. He started the first three games last season but gained only 97 yards on 38 carries (2.6 average), then had a shin injury and was inactive the next four weeks. Jackson had only 17 more carries until the regular-season finale against Detroit, in which he gained 113 yards on 20 carries.
After spending about two months with his family at home in Horn Lake, Miss., Jackson returned for the start of the offseason strength and conditioning program in mid-March with a more aggressive attitude.
"I had in my mind that, 'I want to do way better than last year. I want to come in with a lot of motivation,'"
Jackson said. "Even in the weight room, because that's where it starts. So, you've got to have a mind-set that, 'I'm going to do this,' and no slacking or anything."
Gullickson described Jackson's physical growth as "real solid"
and ranked him among the five most-improved Packers in the offseason program.
His added strength, combined with improved understanding of the scheme, may make the difference for Jackson in pass blocking — a weakness that kept him behind Morency as a third-down back for much of last season.
"Just being in tune with what we're doing, for planning purposes, and not making mental errors I think is the biggest thing"
for Jackson, quarterback Aaron Rodgers said. "Picking up blitzes, he's always been good at that. But just knowing where the guys are coming from and being able to understand our scheme and what we're trying to do, I think he's doing a lot better job at that."
