Jacksonville Jaguars' Malik Jackson cuts down on meat, chews out teammates

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. -- As the Jacksonville Jaguars practiced against the defending Super Bowl champions here this week, the New England Patriots weren't the only team with a winner's attitude.

With the emphasis on attitude.

Jaguars defensive tackle Malik Jackson is playing as if he is mad at the world. Truth be told, he is just mad at himself and some of his teammates after the Jaguars posted a 3-13 record in his first full season in Jacksonville.

Keep in mind, the bar to which Jackson is accustomed is pretty high. Prior to signing a lucrative six-year, $85.5 million contract in free agency, Jackson was a starting defensive tackle for the Denver Broncos, who won the Super Bowl a year before the fabled comeback in February by the Patriots. The Jags play here in a preseason game against the Patriots on Thursday.

In his final year with the Broncos in 2015, he helped guide them to a Super Bowl 50 victory over Carolina, even scoring a touchdown when he recovered a fumble in the end zone.

But one year later, Jackson went from the top of the mountain to the lowest part of the valley when he celebrated just three wins the entire season. Jackson doesn't want to see a repeat performance in 2017. And that's one of the reasons why he is yelling at some offensive linemen whom he felt weren't putting forth a 100 percent effort.

"That's pretty much who I am," Jackson said after a recent practice." I like to get riled up. I feel like it brings the best out of me and the other guys. Coach (Doug Marrone) talks about keeping people accountable and that's what I'm doing. And they're keeping me accountable. It's a way to be out there and be vocal and tell everyone the standard and everyone responds in a great way."

That wasn't the case a year ago. Jackson was the new guy in the locker room and even though he was sporting a Super Bowl ring, he didn't over-step the boundaries. He wanted to play a year with the Jaguars, show what he could do on the field and be a leader by example.

It was a good start for the 290-pound, five-year veteran tackle. He recorded a career-high 6.5 sacks with 33 tackles, a fumble recovery and three batted passes in his first season with the Jaguars. But the one thing he didn't do was be critical of his teammates and their performance on the field. And with 13 losses, there were plenty of opportunities to do such.

"I wasn't trying to step on any toes," Jackson said. "This wasn't my team. I just got here. I wanted to learn the playbook and find myself and see who everyone was. It's a little different time for me right now. I take a little more ownership and a little more of a leadership role than I did last year.

"That's pretty much who I am. I like to talk and get everyone riled up. I feel like it brings the best out of me and the other guys. It's a way to be out there and be vocal and tell everyone the standard and everyone responds in a great way."

There's another change with Jackson this year as well. He's dropped some weight from where he was a year ago at this time. Coming to camp stronger and leaner than he was a year ago, Jackson is looking to hike his personal achievements this year. Not that injuries have been any concern with the former University of Tennessee standout. He's played in all 16 games his last four years and has played in 78 of 80 games in his five-year career.

"Last year I came in a little heavy," Jackson admitted. "There was a big emphasis on leaning down this year and coming in ready to go from the beginning and not waiting until camp started or the middle of the season (to get into the best shape). Coach really got on me about that and that was one of the really big things I tried to change. "Almost went vegan, but no, I didn't go vegan."

Several of Jackson's friends eliminated meat from their diet and tried to convince him to do so. He said he seriously considered it, but couldn't make the commitment for one big reason. "I like my dry-aged steaks," he admitted.

Still, Jackson said he had more chicken and fish than red meat and probably doubled the amount of green vegetables he ate. He is still close to the same weight he was last season -- 290 pounds -- but his body fat percentage dropped and he feels quicker. All of which has impressed Marrone.

"He's much stronger than he's been, so he's able to be available and he's out there and he's playing very well for us right now," Marrone said. "He is giving us great, quality snaps from top to bottom. Like I said, we're getting more snaps in the practices than we would in the game so we hope that carries over into the quality of snaps, every single snap, because he was out on the field quite a bit last year on third down. You want to make sure the player is ready to give you the quality in those downs."

Not only is Jackson talking more with his teammates, but he's creating a buzz on a national level as well. He made a bold prediction on a national podcast that the Jaguars would not only go undefeated during the regular season, but that they would also win the Super Bowl. Brash words about a team that won three games a year ago and has just 17 total wins since 2012.