One of the many things that were overshadowed during last week’s short week for the Washington Commanders was the reported trade request from cornerback William Jackson III. Ian Rapoport, Mike Garofolo and Tom Pelissero of the NFL Network were the ones who reported Jackson’s alleged request.
Jackson was benched in the Week 5 loss to the Titans and told reporters after the game he sat due to a back injury. Jackson missed the Week 6 win over the Bears, as he didn’t travel with the team to Chicago because of the injury.
On Tuesday, Jackson wanted to set the record straight and say that he did not ask for a trade.
“I never said that,” Jackson said Tuesday, according to Peter Hailey of NBC Sports Washington. “I never said, ‘I want out.’ I love my teammates; I love being around the guys. People are going to write what they want to write. I just sit back and do my job.”
When head coach Ron Rivera was asked if he had a comment regarding Jackson’s alleged trade request, he simply replied, “no.”
He did say the following regarding Jackson:
“Well, just for the most part, he’s continuing to work with [head athletic trainer] Al [Bellamy], do his rehab and stuff like that. And we’ll go from there when we get to tomorrow.”
Will Jackson play Sunday against the Packers?
“Probably not. Like I said, he’s working with Al right now,” Rivera answered.
It’s interesting Rivera said Jackson will “probably” not play Sunday this far ahead of the game. Is it because the team wants to keep Jackson healthy ahead of a potential trade? Or is Jackson hurt worse than the team initially believed?
