The Ravens are just Eddie Jackson’s second NFL team after seven seasons in Chicago, but just about everywhere the veteran safety looks in the Ravens locker room, he sees somebody he already knows.
Jackson grew up about 15 minutes away from Lamar Jackson in Lauderdale Lakes, Fla., and they competed in youth football. Sharing the same name, Eddie liked to call Lamar his cousin.
Jackson played college football at Alabama in the same secondary with Marlon Humphrey. Derrick Henry was the running back, and they all won a national championship together.
Jackson spent his first five seasons in the NFL playing behind Roquan Smith in the Bears defense – Smith leading the front seven and Jackson leading the secondary.
So when Jackson intercepted a pass in just his second practice as a Raven and took it the other way for what would’ve been a pick-six, it was like a family reunion celebrating as Humphrey and Smith came running behind him in delirious pursuit.
“It just felt like a perfect fit,” Jackson said. “Just knowing what they have in this building and the tradition of things, I just knew it was a perfect fit for me to come in and compete and do what I do to help the team get better and hopefully win the Super Bowl.”
Jackson was without a team this offseason longer than one would’ve expected for a two-time Pro Bowler (2018 & 2019) who was Pro Football Focus’ top-graded safety in the league not long ago. But in a crowded free-agent safety market, Jackson remained patient and picked Baltimore after visiting a day earlier.
Jackson has been hampered by injuries the past two seasons, which have limited him to 12 games each year. He got off to a hot start in 2022 with four interceptions but suffered a Lisfranc foot injury that ended his season.
Coming back from such an injury takes time to work through, as several Ravens players present and former (Rashod Bateman, Jimmy Smith, Marquise Brown) can attest to over recent seasons. Jackson is hoping that now healthy he can get back to playing like he did before the injury and earlier in his career.
“[I want to show] that I’m still the type of player that I know I am, that I still can go out there. I can compete, I can fly around, make plays,” Jackson said. “I can come in and contribute to a team. I know the type of person I am off the field as well. I just want to show that around the league and to everyone.”
Considering that he signed his contract Sunday morning, Jackson has seen a considerable number of snaps in his first two Ravens practices, working into a rotation with starters Kyle Hamilton and Marcus Williams.
When Jackson signed with the Ravens, Smith texted him with a simple message: “Let’s get to work. Glad to have you back.”
“We had a [small] chat about the defensive scheme, [which] I love,” Jackson said. “How they play, how the guys fly around and how they use the guys on the back end especially.”
Head Coach John Harbaugh said his first impression of the veteran is that he’s a pro with a “great demeanor” who seems like he’s picking up the defense quickly.
Jackson started all 100 games he played in as a Bear, and that will change in Baltimore. But Defensive Coordinator Zach Orr will have no trouble finding a place for his ball-hawking skills, and Jackson is eager to fit in among so much talent and familiar faces. He called his pairing with Hamilton and Williams “definitely special.”
“Man, it’s crazy. I feel like this is probably the [deepest] and [most] competitive DB room I’ve had since Alabama with Minkah [Fitzpatrick], Ronnie [Harrison] and Marlon,” Jackson said.
“I’m just coming in trying to be that missing piece on that back end of that defense and do whatever I can to contribute and help us eventually [win] a Super Bowl.”