Malik Jackson has been having himself a year. The Denver defense is the leading defense in football, ranking No. 1 in the pass game and No. 6 in the rush game – thanks in large part to Jackson.
Through three games, Jackson has nine tackles and 1.5 sacks, including the game-sealer against Kansas City. It’s been heavy-lifting for the defense as Peyton Manning and the offense continue to try and hit their stride under the new system implemented by Rick Dennison and Gary Kubiak. The burden to keep Denver in games while the offense has tried to find its rhythm has been heavy on the defense.
But Jackson doesn’t see it that way.
Jackson joined Sports Stampede Radio on Saturday morning to speak with Mark Knudson on Mile High Sports AM 1340 and said that it’s no burden on the defense.
“I think we see it as our job,” he said. “We’ve got to stop them on every down and every series. We don’t want to give up any points … we enjoy it and it’s what we live for.”
That attitude has delivered big sack numbers, clutch turnovers and, ultimately, three big wins to start the season.
Jackson and his fellow d-linemen have a huge task at hand on Sunday stopping the NFL’s leading rusher, Adrian Peterson. But with the success they’ve had this year already, having held Jamaal Charles to 125 yards and only one touchdown in the win at Kansas City, Jackson should feel confident he and the defense can contain Peterson.
Jackson spoke on stopping Peterson, plus gave some insight on his sack dance. Listen to the full interview in the podcast below.
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