For OU football DL Jayden Jackson, time off before CFP is 'very beneficial'
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NORMAN — Jayden Jackson has played through multiple lingering injuries this season.
Oklahoma’s star sophomore defensive lineman was one of the Sooners’ most productive players through their first four games with 10 tackles and three sacks.
Since, he’s recorded just one sack. Jackson missed the Kent State game and was a gametime decision to play against Alabama, before ultimately logging just 12 snaps.
He’s used the two and a half weeks since the end of the regular season to focus on recovery so he can be at his best in OU’s first-round College Football Playoffgame against Alabama on Friday.
“It was very beneficial,” Jackson said Monday. “Three weeks off, not really off, but to recover, it was beneficial for the whole team. Not just to recover our body but also our mind and mentally, just recover.
“Dealing with the injury, I got to play no matter what, so it don’t even really affect me. Continue to do treatment here and there and do what the team needs.”
Coming off a freshman All-American campaign, Jackson underwent surgery after playing with a torn labrum all last season. The successful procedure kept the first true freshman to start on the Sooners‘ defensive line since Tommie Harris in 2001 out of spring ball.
Jackson, a freshman All-American last season, is one cog in the Sooners’ defensive line machine. The Crimson Tide will have its hands full with tackles Gracen Halton and Damonic Williams, as well as All-SEC honoree Taylor Wein on the edge.
Not to mention, All-SEC First Team defensive end R Mason Thomas is expected to return from an injury that caused him to miss OU’s final three games of the regular season.
“I say this a lot, but we’re really tight,” Jackson said of the unit. “Guys coming in like Dom last year, there was no falloff, we accepted him instantly. We became probably the closest group I would say. It’s just a bunch of guys wanting to work. They have their why, they’re hungry, especially our older guys. I love working with them.”
What makes the Sooners’ defensive front one of the best units in the country is its depth.
Sophomore David Stone had a case to make an All-SEC team after recording 42 tackles, eight tackles for loss and a sack and a half this season. The Del City native and best friend of Jackson’s, entered the transfer portal in April before deciding to return to Norman.
The two were high school teammates at IMG Academy in Florida and Jackson is proud of Stone’s development this season.
“It was amazing to see that growth,” Jackson said. “I saw firsthand the extra things he was doing that he didn’t do before. If that was staying later for meetings on his own, going over film on his own, doing the plays on the back of his hand, just getting comfortable.
“Seeing that was amazing. He deserved to have the season he had. It just showed all the work he did all offseason. Even when it came to reps as running, he was like the first guy every time. Everything was deserved that he had coming, it was really amazing to see.”
OU’s defensive line caused havoc around Alabama quarterback Ty Simpson during the two programs’ meeting earlier this season. Due to the pressure, Simpson was sacked four times.
The scary part is Jackson hasn’t been fully healthy and hasn’t played his best ball yet. He also thinks the defensive line as a whole still has areas where it can grow.
“There’s a lot of stuff we need to work on,” Jackson said. “No one’s ever perfect. But probably communication, pad level, you can literally go down the list of false steps, simple things like that we need to work on.
“We definitely emphasized that, we definitely work to get better on every aspect that we were lacking. We’ve been improving and working on that type of stuff.”
Colton Sulley covers the Oklahoma Sooners for The Oklahoman. Have a story idea for Colton? He can be reached at csulley@oklahoman.com or on X/Twitter at @colton_sulley. Support Colton’s work and that of other Oklahoman journalists by purchasing a digital subscription today at subscribe.oklahoman.com.
OU vs. Alabama
KICKOFF: 7 p.m. Friday, Dec. 19 at Gaylord Family — Oklahoma Memorial Stadium in Norman (ABC/ESPN)
This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Jayden Jackson injury update: OU football DL benefitting from time off
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