Jackson Calls IR Stint a 'Learning Experience'

Miami Dolphins tackle Austin Jackson is hoping to apply the lessons he learned during his time on injured reserve

Miami Dolphins rookie tackle Austin Jackson is glad to be back from his stint on injured reserve, but he's hoping the lessons he learned during that time away from action will continue to serve him the rest of the 2020 season and beyond.

The first-round pick from USC made his return to the lineup in the Dolphins' 34-31 victory against the Arizona Cardinals, starting the game on the bench before retaking his spot at left tackle.

Sunday, I think I played well," Jackson said Wednesday. "There’s definitely always things you can work on. For example, I got tripped up on my sack. I think it was the only sack I gave up. I got tripped up, but that’s just stuff. Having that spatial awareness that you kind of get a sense of where you’re moving in the pocket and stuff like that. For an offensive lineman, it’s big. So being my first game back, being not used to that was a challenge. But for the most part, I felt like I prepared myself to go in there and not be a drop-off for the team. So I think I did pretty well."

Indeed, Jackson did a lot of preparation, and the prep work began even before he was able to return to practice the week leading up to the Arizona game.

Jackson revealed he sustained a foot sprain in the fourth game against the Seattle Seahawks, and that prompted his stint on injured reserve.

While Jackson was out, veteran Jesse Davis slid over to left tackle from his right tackle and rookie second-round pick Robert Hunt moved into Davis' old spot.

In the meantime, Jackson kept working on his upper-body strength as well as his football education.

"When I was out, not being able to practice with the team, I got more chance to look at film, to really study and memorize and learn a bunch of new things," Jackson said. "Just studying NFL defenses, really. Learning defensive movements, defensive assignments, stuff like that helped me a lot. I studied them a lot. And extra hours in the weight room and the training room. Those helped as well."

It was during Jackson that the Dolphins made the switch at quarterback from Ryan Fitzpatrick to Tua Tagovailoa, which meant that Jackson no longer would be protecting the quarterback's blind side.

But Jackson said his job didn't really change very much.

"It wasn’t too different," Jackson said. "The only difference was probably the voice of Fitz versus the Tua. It sounds a little different. I think my very first snap, I almost didn’t fully hear him just because it was so different. But we had all week to practice. We had all camp to play, to open the playbook, so it wasn’t too much of a difference. We all know our assignments, so it wasn’t that much of a difference, I would say, other than the cadence."

Head coach Brian Flores has been non-committal about what the starting offensive line will look like against the Los Angeles Chargers on Sunday, though based on the snap counts from the Arizona game, it likely will have Jackson, Davis, Hunt along with left guard Ereck Flowers and center Ted Karras.

Jackson will be looking to build on his performance from the Arizona game in what should be his first start since his trip to IR.

"I want to say the journey definitely was a learning experience, being hurt," Jackson said. "The NFL is a lot different than college, just the whole IR process. I made the most out of it and I just took every day as an opportunity to get better in as many ways as I could, since I couldn't step on the field. I'm glad I got the opportunity to better myself and the opportunity to play in the game."