ENGLEWOOD, Colo. — Kareem Jackson is entering his 14th season in the NFL. For the first 13 seasons of his career, the first-round pick has been an unquestioned starter.
But, for the first time in his career, that might not be the case this year.
The reason for that is the emergence of third-year safety Caden Sterns.
In his first two years in the NFL, the fourth-round safety played in 20 games, including five starts at safety. In that same time period, the veteran Jackson has played in 32 games with 32 starts.
When Sterns has played, however, he’s been incredibly efficient, racking up 49 tackles, two sacks, two tackles for a loss, two quarterback hits, nine passes defended and four interceptions in limited playing time. Injuries have limited Sterns’ time on the field.
Because of his efficiency when healthy, Sterns appears to be getting a legitimate shot to compete with Jackson for the team’s starting safety spot next to Justin Simmons during the first week of training camp.
“Unfortunately in this league, you get put in situations that you can’t control or you can’t handle, regardless of your play,” the 35-year-old safety said, when asked how he’s handling the team bringing Sterns along. “For some reason, it seems when you get a certain age, they always think the cliff is coming that you can’t play. It’s my job to come out and prove them wrong.”
Last year, starting all 17 games, Jackson had a career-high 94 tackles to go along with two tackles for a loss, two fumble recoveries and three passes defended. After the season, Jackson remained on the free-agent market until May 15, when he re-signed with the team on a one-year, $2.7 million contract.
With only $152,500 guaranteed on his contract, Jackson isn’t just fighting for a starting job, he’s potentially fighting for a roster spot. But he’s approaching camp the same way he’s approached his entire career, “I’m always one of those guys that lets my play do the talking for,” he said after Tuesday’s training camp practice.
“At the end of the day, whether it’s people in this building that think that or guys on the outside, I’m always a guy that’s going to come out and let my play do the talking,” he added. “I believe in myself and my ability and if I couldn’t play at a high level, I wouldn’t be out here. It’s my 14th training camp. I’m not out here because of the payday. I’m out here because I love the game. For me, it’s all about coming out and putting my best foot forward each and every day and still proving I can play this game to each and every person that’s doubting it.”
But just because Jackson’s in a competition with the 23-year-old safety doesn’t mean he’s going to turn his back to him. In fact, it’s quite the opposite.
“I love Caden to death,” the veteran safety said. “He’s a huge part of this team as well. Going into his third year, I’m sure they are expecting big things from him, as am I.”
Jackson is going to help groom Sterns to be the best safety he can be.
“Caden’s still my teammate. I still love Caden,” Jackson explained. “Obviously, competition is competition. But at the end of the day, I’m not going to turn my back on Caden. I’m going to still help Caden every way I can, whether it’s on the field or off the field. At the end of the day, I feel like, it’s my responsibility to give whatever knowledge I have to the guys in that room and Caden’s included in that regardless of the situation that we’re in. It’s not his fault. Like I said, it’s unfortunately that the league put guys in certain situations that may not should be in. But at the end of the day, you got to accept it and got to go to work.”
In the first week of camp, Sterns has been one of many bright spots on Denver’s defense. His diving interception was one of the highlights in the first week of training camp.
Despite Sterns shining, Jackson’s not going to back down and let the third-year safety run away with the job.
“At the end of the day, for me it’s all about coming out and still showing I can play this game at a high level,” Jackson stated.”
