Challenges Facing the Eagles' James Bradberry and Giants' Adoree Jackson

Bradberry calls the third meeting against his former team 'ironic' while Jackson, fresh off shutting down Justin Jefferson, will try to do the same to his former Titans teammate

PHILADELPHIA – James Bradberry has become sort of like Boston Scott.

Not with 10 career touchdowns that Scott has scored against Saturday night’s playoff opponent, the New York Giants, but because Bradberry played the previous two seasons for the Giants.

So, when the Giants are on the schedule, the media pack gets a little heavier around the locker of the Eagles' second-team All-Pro cornerback.

Bradberry is 2-0 against his former team and trying to make it 3-0.

“I think it’s kind of ironic,” he said. “I’m trying to approach it like another game, (a) faceless opponent for me. I just know we have to go out there and win to move on to the next round.

“Of course, it’s probably a cool story, but I’m just trying to go out there and win a football game.”

Bradberry remembered the 2017 season when he was with the Carolina Panthers, who played the New Orleans Saints three times that season.

“We lost all three times,” he said, “so that year it didn’t feel good to play a team three times.”

He added that “it’s definitely the goal” to be on the 3-0 side if the Eagles were to beat New York for a third time.

There’s another cool story out of New York involving its cornerback Adoree Jackson and Eagles WR A.J. Brown.

The two were teammates for two seasons in Tennessee.

Jackson was injured in the team’s first meeting this season and didn’t play in the second. He did, however, help shut down Vikings All-Pro receiver, Justin Jefferson in their wildcard win. Jefferson had just 47 yards on seven catches.

Jackson knows Brown, who had 1,496 yards and 11 touchdowns, will present yet another challenge.

“He is just a dog,” said Jackson. “I don’t know any other way to explain it. A guy that gets after, attacks the ball, can run every route in the playbook; catch you with a screen, go 80, a slant go 80, or hit you with a deep ball and go 80. 

"A complete receiver - can block, can do all the things that you would want. That’s truly a great player.”

The Eagles showed interest in Jackson when he became a free agent in 2020 after for seasons with the Titans.

New York, however, blew him away with a contract offer before he had a chance to visit Philly, giving Jackson a three-year, $39 million contract. Jackson will count $19M on their salary cap next season.

That kind of cap hit led the Giants to release Bradberry last spring when he was set to count $21.9M after a pair of contract restructures after he signed with them in 2020.

Bradberry responded with a terrific season, but he will be a free agent after this season.

"It would definitely be pretty sweet," he said when asked how much it would mean to beat the Giants again. "First of all because we’re going on to the next round and second, it’s like ... being back in Little League, when you’re in Little League playing a team across the city and you have some friends over there."

READ MORE: The Smallest Player on the Field, Boston Scott is a Giants Slayer

Ed Kracz is the publisher of SI.com’s Fan Nation Eagles Today and co-host of the Eagles Unfiltered Podcast. Check out the latest Eagles news at www.SI.com/NFL/Eagles or www.eaglesmaven.com and please follow him on Twitter: @kracze.