The day-to-day details of clinging to an NFL roster are nothing compared to the details of how to tuck the corner of one’s sheets.
Jordan Jackson still remembers those days well. Six-inch corners on his bedspread. Twelve-inch tucks. A few years back at Air Force, he’d have to scour his jersey for any signs of microfibers. Those days were grueling: Failed tests, failed uniform checks, all over a single loose thread on his No. 94.
A few standout years at Air Force have given way to a few years on NFL roster bubbles. Sometimes outside. Sometimes inside.
Jackson was signed and cut by New Orleans and signed and cut by Denver. He stuck around with the Broncos’ practice squad in 2023 and made the 53-man roster last year. His mother was enlisted in the army, so Jackson grew up moving all around the country, and even to Germany. He’s used to this.
The depth, in his third year in Denver, is stronger than at any point in Jackson’s tenure. But the Air Force product has made himself into a tough cut through a standout camp. He was an easy choice at cutdown day last August and has made clear strides from a rotational role last year: generating plenty of pressure up the middle, getting his massive arms in passing lanes, standing out on the Broncos’ defensive line in a joint practice with San Francisco.
“He’s working his tail off, and competing,” head coach Sean Payton said Wednesday. “He’s a guy that, the time we’ve had with him, and the camp he’s having, he’s doing good.”
Jackson might be competing for a single roster spot with 2022 fourth-round pick Eyioma Uwazurike, if the Broncos stick to keeping six defensive linemen. It’s a toss-up at present. But Jackson’s gotten used to this life.
“The past, what, three years — was definitely stressing every day, making sure, coming out here, trying not to mess up, trying to be as serious as possible,” Jackson said. “And sometimes, that can really slow you down. So it’s been good to just come out here, have fun with it.”
Barron absent: Broncos’ first-round pick Jahdae Barron wasn’t at Thursday’s practice with what Payton called a “soft-tissue” injury. The head coach, though, said the corner was “fine,” and anticipates Barron playing in Saturday’s preseason game against New Orleans.
New pops: Jaleel McLaughlin’s work ethic, evidently, stops for nobody. A few weeks ago, the Broncos back — notorious for being a grinder — said he went to Arizona to train this offseason and bulk up. He now sits around 199 pounds, a jump up from his listed weight of 187 last year.
The catch: his fiancée, McLaughlin said, was pregnant.
“Shout-out to my fiancée,” McLaughlin said Aug. 1, with a beaming smile. “She’s been doing an amazing job.”
The baby would be due in roughly two and a half weeks, McLaughlin said then. He was on the money. Payton confirmed Thursday that McLaughlin and his partner had their child, which is why the Broncos back was absent from practice the past couple of days. One of the first things that ever kept McLaughlin away from a Denver practice field.
One roster decision made: Broncos tight end Nate Adkins caught all of 14 passes last year, and yet it’s become readily apparent that Denver views the TE-FB hybrid as a key part of their 2025 plans. After spraining his ankle during camp and undergoing what Payton dubbed a “tightrope” procedure, the Broncos could elect to place Adkins on IR after the roster cutdown, which would rule him out for four games.
Adkins will be healthy by Week 2 or 3, though, Payton said. And evidently, those two or three weeks of Adkins are worth committing a full roster spot: Payton said the Broncos will “probably hold him” on their initial 53-man.
“He’s too good a football player for us,” Payton said.
©2025 MediaNews Group, Inc. Visit at denverpost.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
