Panthers CB Donte Jackson Suffers Season-Ending Injury
Carolina Panthers cornerback Donte Jackson left Thursday night's game against the Atlanta Falcons with an Achilles injury.
After undergoing an MRI on Friday, team doctors determined that he had suffered a torn Achilles tendon and that he will miss the remainder of the 2022 season.
This offseason, Jackson and the Panthers agreed to a three-year, $35 million deal. Shortly after the deal became official, I caught up with Jackson to get his thoughts on the team's future and why he wanted to remain a part of it.
"I just want to be a part of the team that changes the narrative. I don't want to be one of those star players that when something doesn't go right, they leave. We had this talk that we wanted to be that turn like how Luke [Kuechly] and those guys had to be at one point. These are the guys that are going to come back and start that core of guys like Shaq Thompson is and what Thomas Davis was and what Luke was and what Cam [Newton] was. Those type of guys, the guys that were drafted here to be the change and ultimately became the change. We know we can win here and we know we have the talent to win here. We have an outstanding coaching staff. Now, we just have to get everything turned around. If you look at all the games we lost, it was no blowouts. It was always right there, so we know where we're at. So, why try to go and start somewhere else when we're on the cusp of becoming an elite team? That's bigger than anything that I can go be a part of. I can just do that here and be part of those guys who were remembered as being that change."
During our call. Donte talked a lot about how much the city of Charlotte meant to him. This has become his adoptive home and it's now to the point where he spends very little time in his actual hometown of New Orleans and maybe some of that stems from his newfound hatred for the division rival Saints.
"I 100% see myself wearing these colors for my whole career. I feel like it just became home for me. The brand of football I play is the Carolina brand of football. Like I always like to say, when you're looking at the franchise legends like Luke and TD [Thomas Davis], and Cam [Newton] and talking about the grit and the style that those guys played with, I feel like I fit that mold. I want to be a franchise great. I want to be a guy that when it's all said and done here people remember me as being an exceptional player and a guy who was actually out there in the community doing stuff. I see myself being here for my whole career."
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