Austin Jackson – November 3, 2021
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Wednesday, November 3, 2021
G/T Austin Jackson
(You played well last week. Head Coach Brian Flores said to us, without even us asking on Monday, that he’s happy with the move of you to guard and it’s going well. Do you feel happy you moved there? Do you feel that’s your best position?) – “I’m happy to be on the field. I’ve learned a lot of things about left guard. The biggest thing for me was – I don’t really know. Yeah, I’m happy to be playing left guard. I like to be on the field with my teammates and help them out. I’m glad I can get better at it. Just learning a new position, you never really know how it’s going to go, especially never playing it before. I’m just glad I’ve got my foot in, my confidence, I’m doing well and I just look to keep getting better.”
(Players who I know who have played the guard position over many years, they seem to be very aggressive. It seems like you’ve taken to that. I’ve seen you be very aggressive. Describe the approach that you’ve tried to take at the guard position relative to aggressiveness?) – “I think one of my better traits is that I’m very physical and strong at the point of attack. I was talking to my college coach from USC actually, and he was telling me that one of the things, especially at tackle, that I have always been good at is the point of attack. So I think that translated over to guard and it probably translates over to any position on the line, really. I think playing both guard and tackle work hand in hand. Playing guard helps me with some things playing at tackle. Things like patience. There’s a lot less space when you play guard, so you have to be more confident in your point of attack.”
(If somebody worked at an advertising agency and they said to him or her, we’re taking you off this account but we’re giving you this account instead. The human reaction might be disappointment. So when you were told you’re not going to play tackle at this point moving forward and we’re moving you to guard, was there disappointment? Were you let down at all emotionally?) – “Nah, not really. I mean it’s just different. Everybody handles change in their own ways. At the end of the day, when I went from tackle to guard, I still had to play guard the next play in that game. And I’m blocking Vita Vea. There’s not really much time to sulk about (expletive) – or stuff (laughter). Yeah, that’s that. I’m just happy to be on the field and still have the opportunity to play and compete and show what I can do, and help my team try to win some games here, which we really want to do. We believe in each other. As long as I get to be a part of that, I’m good.”
(I’ve noticed that you’ve tried to show some positive energy and emotion in the last few weeks.) – “Every week.”
(Has that been a point of emphasis for you to show your emotions on the field?) – “Nah. I show my emotions every week. Every week. Honestly, there are a lot of things you guys don’t see. If you go back, you’ll still see the same type of emotion and passion for the game. Obviously the season didn’t start out how we wanted, so kind of getting through that was a little bit of a learning experience, I would say – as a line anyways. I would say that’s every week and that’s just an emphasis to keep getting better. We all love to play.”
(I always thought it was kind of fun when a guard buries sort of an unsuspecting defensive player, maybe later in the development of the play. Are there actually more opportunities to bury guys at the guard position than the tackle position?) – “No. Well there are some, but think about this. At tackle, I’m 310, 315, 320 pounds, blocking a guy that’s 250 pounds. Versus playing guard, you are moving people that are like 330-350 pounds. It’s really just about your technique and being disciplined. You can’t just try to outmuscle a guy because they’re big too. They’re strong too. I’d say there’s probably like equal opportunities for that stuff.”
(Putting aside the playing time aspect that you addressed earlier, if you were to look back at how things went for you at tackle this season and how things are going at guard now, do you kind of take a step back and say, ‘Yeah, that move really was the best thing for me?’) – “I don’t know. That’s a loaded question. I definitely think that although I made some mistakes at tackle, I still think I’m a great tackle. I think that moving in to play guard, seeing what I can do at guard, it’s like ‘Wow, I can really play guard too.’ It’s just a matter of – the guys who make those decisions like ‘Flo’ (Brian Flores) and Chris (Grier), that’s up to them. I know inside for me and my confidence level, I know I can play both and I can do both well. Even though I did make some mistakes at tackle and me moving to guard makes it look like ‘Oh, he’s a crappy tackle.’ But it’s ball. It is what it is. You do what’s best for the team. The decision-makers thought this was best and I’m with the team all the time.”
(Laremy Tunsil was a very good left guard as a rookie. I don’t know if you know that. He was drafted as a tackle but played guard and played it well. I’m just curious, have you ever looked at Tunsil from that year?) – “Yeah, ‘Flo’ (Brian Flores) actually told me about that. About him playing guard. I haven’t watched too much of the film from that year. There’s not a whole lot in the archives. But there are guys like Zack Martin and Connor Williams, both the guards for the Cowboys. They were both tackles for a super long time. They’re doing well at guard being former tackles. There are a lot of people. It’s kind of just part of the game, I’ve come to learn. A lot of tackles end up playing guard in this league. Whatever happens, happens.”
(You mentioned the difference in size of players that you block at the two positions. Do you prefer that more physical style of blocking when you’re inside as opposed to the more speed rush guys playing more physically?) – “I think at tackle, it doesn’t feel as rewarding getting a knock down against someone who is smaller than you because it’s like you’re supposed to do that. But playing guard is definitely more rewarding when you’re getting good movement inside. That’s where the business is at. It’s definitely more rewarding inside.”
(You said you’ve spoken to your coach at USC about being strong at the point of attack. Was that recently or was that when you were in school?) – “No, it was actually – I was catching up with my old USC coach, Coach (Tim) Drevno. It was ‘How are you doing?’ We check in with each other like that, just kind of how like my school was. He was checking in with me and we just talked about the switch. He had some good advice and good words for me.”
(He said you weren’t strong enough at the point of attack at tackle?) – “No. You completely misread that. He said ‘I can see you playing guard because you’ve always been very strong at the point of attack.’ It wasn’t like you weren’t strong enough. If I wasn’t strong enough at tackle, they definitely wouldn’t move me to guard.”
