That didn’t take long. The New Orleans Saints re-signed rookie wide receiver Jermaine Jackson back to their practice squad not long after waiving him last week, with another rookie going on injured reserve as a corresponding move — defensive end Trajan Jeffcoat, who suffered an elbow injury early in training camp and only recently returned to the team.
Jackson had been supplanted as the Saints’ returns specialist by another practice squad wideout, Dante Pettis, but they clearly want to keep him in the fold. Attrition with season-threatening injuries to players like Chris Olave, Rashid Shaheed, and Bub Means almost demands they keep that depth intact. But we’ll have to wait and see whether Jackson returns to the field this season.
As for Pettis? He came up a toe’s width shy of a punt returned for a touchdown against the Cleveland Browns last week, but still gained 53 yards on the play. Like Jackson he was an accomplished returns ace in college and interim head coach Darren Rizzi (who of course has a background as a special teams coordinator) wants him to get more opportunities to impact the game.
