Patriots' J.C. Jackson On New England Return: 'Good To Be Home!'

Despite the New England Patriots' blowout loss to the New Orleans Saints on Sunday, cornerback J.C. Jackson was just happy to be back with his old team.

The New England Patriots' first game with cornerback J.C. Jackson back in the fold wasn't a storybook reunion, as the New Orleans Saints dismantled them by a score of 34-0.

For Jackson, though, coming back to his old home was more than enough. After the game, Jackson was still in good spirits and happy to be back in Foxborough.

"It feels like home. Feels like home," Jackson told reporters. "Familiar faces. Just feels like home. Good to be home, I feel appreciated here. I'm excited to be back."

An undrafted free agent out of Maryland, Jackson spent the first four seasons of his career in Nw England. He eventually developed into one of the top corners in the game, even recording a league-high 23 passes defended with eight interceptions in 2021.

Jackson in coverage during his previous stint with the Patriots / (Cred: NFL.com)

Jackson parlayed that performance into a massive contract with the Los Angeles Chargers last offseason, but to say his tenure with them went poorly would be an understatement. Last year was a disaster early on, and he suffered a season-ending injury less than halfway through. Then this season, Jackson got off to a poor start once again, and even found himself as a healthy scratch in the Chargers' Week 3 win over the Minnesota Vikings.

The following week, Jackson reportedly refused to enter the game in place of an injured teammate, which ended up being the final straw. A few days later, the Chargers traded him back to the Patriots for pennies on the dollar. With the trade, Jackson joins a long list of players who have left New England for big money, only to come back later on.

That doesn't matter to Jackson, though. What does is that he's now able to put his Chargers tenure behind him and be where he's happy.

"I couldn't believe it. I couldn't believe it," Jackson said about the trade. "But I was happy and that's the key. You want to be happy. You want to be happy with what you're doing, and this place has my heart."

Even better, Jackson had no trouble at all re-acclimating to New England. Although he's only been gone a year and a half, the fact he was able to settle back in no doubt eased any concerns.

"It's nothing, it's easy. It's like a second nature. Get out there and do what I love to do and this is my defense. This is the defense that I started with and made me who I am. So coming back here is just going back and I'm back. I'm back."

It's worth noting that the Patriots host the Chargers on Dec. 3, and while that's still several weeks out, there's no doubt Jackson will be extremely motivated against the team that cast him aside.