Jackson, an undrafted rookie who entered the league in 2023 with the Bengals before coming to Las Vegas late last season, is a profile in perseverance.
“You never know,” he told me on the most recent episode of Upon Further Review. “You just take it one day at a time and put the work in that’s necessary … to get better. Or stay consistent and just stand in the mindset of what’s going to happen [is going to happen]. And whenever your number gets called, you’ve just got to stay ready so you ain’t got to get ready.
“That’s all there is to it.”
Well, it kind of is for Jackson, whose previous NFL experience was limited to five games with the Bengals in 2023 with one target sans a catch, before playing three offensive snaps without a target in the Raiders’ Week 7 loss at Kansas City.
Which begs the question: with such limited burn, how does one stay ready so one doesn’t have to get ready?
“Staying in the playbook,” Jackson said. “Make sure I’m on top of my fundamentals, my technique, just trusting that at the end of the day, and knowing that when I get on the field and it’s time to do what I do, then I’m going to be able to execute.”
Another ironic key, then? Pickett’s familiarity with Jackson and Jackson’s with Pickett, what with the two working with each other extensively on backup duty throughout the season.
Pickett, remember, entered the game and played the entirety of the fourth quarter after starting quarterback Geno Smith got banged up with right hand and shoulder injuries, and Jackson had been elevated from the practice squad, in part, because of rookie wideout Dont’e Thornton’s concussion.
“I’ve been working with Shed’ a lot more than the starters,” Pickett said. “So when I had him in there, I felt really confident that he was going to run the right route, be in the right spot. Timing was perfect. We had the right coverage, so it was just really good execution.”
Hence the connection, literal and figurative.
“It goes a long way, you know, it definitely goes a long way when you have a lot of reps together,” Pickett said. “I just know where he’s going to be, he knows what I’m looking for, so we have good communication together.”