Jeffcoat saving best for last

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This article was published 05/11/2022 (1262 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

If you look up the CFL’s sack leaders for this season, you have to scroll down several times to find Jackson Jeffcoat’s name.

The Winnipeg Blue Bombers defensive end only managed four in 12 games, which put him outside the league’s top 25 quarterback chasers.

Jeffcoat, now 31 and in his fifth season in Winnipeg, had nine in 12 games in the shortened 2021 season which was the third most in the CFL.

“It was the regular season. We’re in the playoffs now,” said Jeffcoat after Saturday’s late afternoon practice at IG Field. “Stats are all the same, they’re all at zero now. That’s regular season stuff. I didn’t get what I wanted, but whatever. That’s life. Things don’t always happen the way you want, but we can only control what we can control.”

Before last week’s regular season finale against the B.C. Lions, Jeffcoat missed three straight games with a hip injury. Jeffcoat missed six games in total this season, forcing the Bombers to start LB Mack III, Cedric Wilcots II, and Keion Adams on the opposite end of the d-line from the team’s other feared pass rusher, Willie Jefferson. Adams is the only fill-in still on the team as Mack was released and Wilcots was traded to the Hamilton Tiger-Cats for defensive back Alden Darby, Jr.

“When teams see Jackson isn’t playing, they tend to send a little more help my way, with running back chips and things like that. I just got used to it and tried to take it as a sign of respect,” said Jefferson.

“But I still try to win. I still try to beat the double teams and triple teams to get to the quarterback and just disrupt him and get him off his spot. More than likely, if I can get that attention, that frees up other guys on the defensive line, linebackers, and defensive backs.”

That didn’t exactly end up being the case. The Bombers ended the season with 36 sacks, the second fewest in the CFL. The Calgary Stampeders, who the Bombers might see in the Western final on Nov. 13 if they beat the B.C. Lions in Vancouver today, led the league with 56. The Lions were in third with 45.

Jefferson and Jackson have some competition for the title of best pass rushing duo in the West. Calgary’s Shawn Lemon and Isaac Adeyemi-Berglund combined for 22 quarterback takedowns and B.C.’s David Menard and Sione Teuhema had 17 between them.

Jefferson hasn’t had a sack since the Banjo Bowl and finished the year with seven – his lowest total in a full season since 2016.

“I’m kinda disappointed. But if you look at the tape, a couple of Jackson’s sacks were taken away by penalties or just him missing. And it was the same with me,” Jefferson said.

“At the end of the day, we are frustrated because our numbers aren’t in the double digits, but we’re No. 1 in the West, got a bye week, and a home playoff game. We just want to keep the positive vibes going.”

The good news for the Bombers, especially Jefferson, is Jeffcoat is back at the perfect time. Jeffcoat closed out the season by sacking Lions backup quarterback Antonio Pipkin in the fourth quarter. Jeffcoat and Jefferson are known to turn it up a notch at this time of year as they combined for five sacks in the 2019 Grey Cup. Both of them also had a sack in last year’s West final against the Saskatchewan Roughriders.

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“My dad (former Dallas Cowboys great Jim Jeffcoat) always said to me when I was growing up that big time players make big time plays in big time games. You’ve got to make something happen and find your edge any way you can,” Jeffcoat said. “The big thing I like to say, and I talk to Willie about it, is that when it cools down, we heat up. So, it’s time to go.”

The Bombers are going to need Jeffcoat and Jefferson at their best next weekend when Nathan Rourke or Jake Maier come to town.

“We know if we can go out there and we can make some stops, get off the field on second down, knock some passes down, and get some sacks, we can change the momentum of the game,” said Jefferson.

taylor.allen@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @TaylorAllen31

Taylor Allen
Reporter

Taylor Allen is a sports reporter for the Winnipeg Free Press. Taylor was the Vince Leah intern in the Free Press newsroom twice while earning his joint communications degree/diploma at the University of Winnipeg and Red River College Polytechnic. He signed on full-time in 2019 and mainly covers the Blue Bombers, curling, and basketball. Read more about Taylor.

Every piece of reporting Taylor produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print — part of the Free Press‘s tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press’s history and mandate, and learn how our newsroom operates.