You guys seemed to rather enjoy former Cincinnati Bengals cornerback William Jackson III’s recent interview with ESPN 106.7 The Fan, his first radio appearance since signing on with the Washington Football Team as a free agent.
During that interview, he dumped on his former team, and their fans, pretty much calling them all miserable people and saying that misery loves company. He was pretty pleased to get out of that culture in a way that others rarely are, or at least would be willing to say publicly.
That wasn’t the only topic that he discussed, though. He was also asked about who his toughest opponents were, and while he was quick to mention former Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver Antonio Brown, he also let it be known that he won those battles.
“AB was by far the best. I had to be on my A game when I played him, so he was definitely one of the top guys at the time”, he told his hosts. But when asked if he talked much trash, he had the comeback. “If he don’t catch the ball, he don’t say much”.
Truthfully, when the Steelers and Bengals did play each other with Brown and Jackson both in the game, the former first-round cornerback usually did hold his own, rarely allowing completions in the All-Pro’s direction. He got away with a couple of pass interference penalties here and there, no doubt, but he probably did better than the vast majority of cornerbacks Brown has faced over the course of his career.
He didn’t have much to say about any other skill position player, let alone wide receiver, within the division, including the Steelers’ list of weapons in JuJu Smith-Schuster, Diontae Johnson, and company, even some older names like Martavis Bryant.
It’s pretty clear that the sixth-year cornerback does not lack for confidence, and he also seems pretty positive that signing with Washington will lead to better opportunities for him both personally and professionally—even though the Bengals have a franchise quarterback now, and Washington does not.
And I’m not sure about the spotlight, either. While D.C. is obviously a bigger market than Cincinnati, Washington hasn’t had many primetime games lately. Just one in the regular season last year, and two the year before. They did have five in 2017, the only year since 2013 that they’ve had more than three.
Now in the NFC East this year, he’ll get a chance to face, among others, Julio Jones, Amari Cooper and CeeDee Lamb, Kenny Golladay, Michael Thomas, Mike Evans and Chris Godwin (and possibly Brown), Stefon Diggs, Tyreek Hill, and Tyler Lockett. Should be a fun year.
