Nate Jackson rose from an unsigned free agent to the starting lineup of the Denver Broncos. Here he provides an unvarnished look at the daily grind of practices, including about his time as a Denver practice squad player.
“My job is to run the opposing teams’ plays during the week leading up to the game. An assistant coach pores through our opponent’s game film and draws up every one of their plays on large cards. He color-codes each skill position and writes the jersey number of each player inside the colored dot that indicates where he lines up. There’s no memorizing of plays, no learning of concepts. Just find your colored dot and copy it, shmuck. All week I’m the same dot.
“Practice squad players don’t travel with the team. It’s a strange feeling watching the games on television after the week of practice. I’m a part of the team all week. An important part of the team, too. I prepare our defense to dominate. The better I play, the better they play. I want to make it harder on them in practice than it will be on Sundays. When our DBs play well, I pat myself on the back. When they don’t, I take it personally.”
