Jackson did not play a snap despite being active.
Despite being active, New England Patriots cornerback J.C. Jackson did not step on the field — nor was spotted on the team’s sideline — Sunday in a 27-17 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs.
“He wasn’t available,” head coach Bill Belichick explained post game. “Leave it at that.”
Jackson was present at Gillette Stadium on Sunday and appeared set to play. After not appearing on the Patriots injury report during the week, something likely happened between 11:30 a.m. ET when inactives were announced and 1 p.m. ET before kickoff.
Jackson not being on the sideline was then a surprise to at least one team captain.
“When I saw him in the locker room I thought he was going to play,” Deatrich Wise Jr. said following the game. “When you see people in the locker room you think, ‘he’s here, he’s gonna play.’”
With Jackson not available — and the team also making Shaun Wade a healthy inactive — the Patriots turned to fellow cornerback Alex Austin. The rookie had never started a game before in his young career and found out he’d be getting his first career start right before kick off.
“I found out right when the game started,” Austin said. “Felt ready for the opportunity. I’ve been grinding for a long time to get this opportunity. Just was blessed enough to get out there and get this start against a great opponent, great quarterback, great offense.”
“We all know that when the game starts anything can happen,” Belichick added. “Happened a little bit before — [Alex Austin] was ready to play, expected to play. Played a lot. Talked about that before — it’s everybody’s job to be ready to go, it’s what we do.”
Despite a pair of penalties, Austin, who signed with New England early in November, appeared to settle into his coverage throughout the afternoon. He credited that to the veteran cornerbacks and safeties around him.
“I felt good and I felt confident to go out there with a group of guys I’m battling with every day,” he said. “The veteran guys made things easy for me out there with communication and it was just fun to build that camaraderie there with the guys.”
Sunday did not mark the first time Jackson was unavailable to the team since they reacquired him via trade back in October. After being benched for a portion of the team’s Week 9 game due to reliability concerns, Jackson was left home as the team then traveled to Germany the following week.
Jackson then returned to the team after their Week 12 bye, where he has been active on the game day roster the past three games.
The 27-year old has three years remaining on the initial five-year, $82.5 million deal he signed with the Los Angeles Chargers — which carries no more guaranteed money from New England’s perspective.