FAB 2. WHERE HAS JACKSON, A BUCS’ TEAM CAPTAIN, BEEN?
One of the mysteries over the 2016 season has been the whereabouts of Tampa Bay wide receiver Vincent Jackson. We all know he’s on injured reserve after suffering a slight tear of his ACL in a 17-14 victory at Carolina on Monday Night Football, but the fact that Jackson is a team captain that rarely goes to One Buccaneer Place and hasn’t been seen on the sideline with his teammates or out as the coin toss is a bit curious.

Some players that are on injured reserve stay away from the team outside of their rehabilitation session at One Buccaneer Place. Veteran defensive ends Jacquies Smith and George Johnson have rarely been seen in the locker room by the media this year. While others, such rookie linebacker Davonte Bond, is at One Buc Place on a full-time basis despite being on injured reserve. Former Bucs wide receiver Kenny Bell was the same way last year, attending all the meetings, standing on the sidelines on game days and even traveling with the team to away games.

Bucs WR Vincent Jackson by: Cliff Welch/PR

That’s why it seemed a bit odd that Jackson, a widely respected player that was voted to be a team captain, wouldn’t make his presence felt in the locker room, on the practice field or on the sidelines on game day. Yet multiple sources have told PewterReport.com that Jackson didn’t want to be a distraction to the team after he got hurt, and wanted other younger players, such as quarterback Jameis Winston, defensive tackle Gerald McCoy, linebacker Kwon Alexander among others, to take on a larger leadership role.

McCoy said that the players aren’t bothered by Jackson’s absence from the locker room or the sidelines.

“I don’t think guys have taken it personal and think anything of it,” McCoy said. “He’s injured. He’s doing what’s necessary to get back as soon as possible. I don’t feel like just because you are a captain you are required to be in the building, especially if you are injured. If you are healthy, then yes, that means you are playing. When you are injured, you do whatever is best for you to get back to us as soon as possible.

“When we see him, everybody goes crazy. You’ve got to see it when he walks in the building. Everybody goes, ‘Ah, man, VJax’s back!’ He stays involved. He texts guys.”

Jackson is universally respected by everyone at One Buccaneer Place and has shifted his focus from being a team captain in the traditional sense to becoming a tremendous ambassador for the Buccaneers as the team’s Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year nominee for the fourth year in a row.

“VJax is being a captain in ways you guys don’t see,” McCoy said. “He’s at Bucs events, he’s giving tours around here, and he’s walking kids through here. He’s doing a lot of community service stuff. He’s in the building more than you think.”

When an MRI first revealed a partially torn ACL and the team elected to put the 33-year old on injured reserve, Jackson took the news with class – even though it likely ends his NFL career as the Northern Colorado product was in the final year of a contract that paid him $9.777 million with a salary cap charge of $12.2 million.

Despite his status as a team leader and a captain, the Bucs’ brass gave Jackson the green light to focus on community relations rather than his teammates on a daily basis.

Bucs WRs Vincent Jackson and Mike Evans – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

“When he walks into the locker room everybody knows that Vincent Jackson is in the locker room, and it’s awesome,” Humphries said. “That’s just the type of guy he is. He’s always somebody I’ve looked up to and I know Mike [Evans] has as well. All the guys in the receiver room respect him and what he’s done in the league. He deserves a lot of credit for what he’s done.”

Jackson has served as an extra coach on the practice field for years, but with the wide receivers unit in capable hands with position coach Todd Monken, Jackson’s presence at practice is no longer needed.

“Coach Monken definitely covers all the aspects of what we need in terms of coaching,” Humphries said. “But from VJax, just being around him for a year and a half what I’ve learned is how he handles himself and watching him and learning from him. I know that’s how he is with a lot of people. He’s not the most talkative guy, but you can learn a lot from observing him. He served his role well.”

Jackson’s departure has allowed Evans, who became a Pro Bowler for the first time, to become the leader of the wide receivers room.

“Time has flown,” Evans said. “It’s flying by, but it’s been a good thing that I’ve had a good successor. VJax, you know he passed the torch to me, taught me a lot about the game and being a professional. I owe him a lot. And you know, I hope I’m the same for the next guy.”

Jackson caught 268 passes for 4,236 yards with 20 touchdowns for the Buccaneers after coming from San Diego in free agency in 2012, the year he made his last Pro Bowl. After three 1,000-yard seasons Jackson’s production fell off after he missed time with knee injuries, catching 33 passes for 543 yards and three touchdowns last year and 15 passes for 173 yards and no scores this season.

The stoic receiver was never known for pre-game speeches or being a rah-rah guy, so Jackson gets a pass from his teammates for not joining them on the sidelines. Instead, he watches the home games from a luxury suite.

“We have a ton of vocal leaders on this team,” Humphries said. “Before the game we have a ton of people who are kind of fighting over who is going to speak to the team because Jameis always wants to say something because he’s got something on his heart, and Gerald is a leader, as is Shep (Russell Shepard). They all get their say before games and we have a ton of leaders on this team. We are not lacking in that regard.”

Bucs WR Vincent Jackson – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

McCoy agrees.

“It’s different,” McCoy said. “People get voted for captains for different reasons. I saw somebody put out a mock captain list for next year. I looked at it and I said, ‘That’s cool.’ But guys get voted captains for certain reasons. It’s not always who can yell the most or give the best speech. VJax was voted as a captain for his experience and his influence on this team. How people look at him and the respect he has – that’s why he’s been voted as a captain.”

With other team captains like McCoy, Winston, Shepard, Alexander and Lavonte David there is plenty of leadership in the locker room, on the practice field and on game days without Jackson’s presence necessary.

“Who is the Captain America of the team, or who is the Superman of the team? It’s Vincent Jackson,” McCoy said. “That’s why he is who he is. If you could just see the impact he has when he walks through that door, you’d understand. It’s understood. He doesn’t have to be in the locker room. He doesn’t have to be in the building. We understand he’s doing what he has to do and his influence is still heavy around here.”