RENTON, Wash. — If someone was to show up to the Virginia Mason Athletic Center on any given workday during the 2021 regular season, they’d likely find Michael Jackson alone on the indoor practice facility turf.

Jackson spent all but two games of the 2021 season on the practice squad in Seattle, his fourth team in three years after originally entering the league as a fifth-round pick of the Cowboys in 2019. Buried on the depth chart at a time when Seattle was playing a game of musical chairs at its second starting cornerback spot, Jackson remembers sitting on his couch contemplating his future.

“If this don’t work, I gotta use my degree,” he thought.

But Jackson had no interest in putting his sports administration degree to work. He wanted to play football, the sport that made him a top recruit in his home state of Alabama, earned him a scholarship to the University of Miami and got him drafted.

To deal with the weekly reality of not being called up to Seattle’s game-day roster, Jackson would learn the defensive call sheet for each game and play out each snap on his own on the practice field as if he was in an actual game, the football version of a kid practicing game-winning jump shots in the driveway.

Guarding two-by-two formations, reading whether the No. 2 receiver went inside, breaking on dig routes from the No. 1 receiver — Jackson went through everything. This was his way of staying connected without suiting up on Sundays.

“It just felt good like, ‘OK, I accomplished something. I came, I got work in,’” Jackson said. “I envisioned me making plays. A year later, it actually happened. That was kind of my way not to get too down and just still be even-keeled.”

On Sundays, Jackson and assistant defensive backs coach DeShawn Shead — a former Seahawks practice squad player who battled his way to becoming a starter — used to go through an entire workout hours before the game. They’d drill everything from drops in different coverages to press-man techniques. As a longtime practice squad player, doubt had begun to creep into Jackson’s head. “Can I play in this league?” he’d wonder. But those workouts with Shead and those solo sessions at the VMAC kept him mentally sharp.

“That was my way of answering that question,” Jackson said, “and put that to bed.”

In 2021, Jackson played 24 defensive snaps across two games late in the season. In 2022, he was Seattle’s full-time starter at left cornerback opposite rookie standout Riq Woolen. Jackson played more than 1,000 defensive snaps, totaled 12 passes defensed and had one interception in the best year of his pro career.

According to Next Gen Stats, Jackson produced a passer rating against of 75.7 when targeted as the nearest defender with only two touchdowns allowed, and 1.0 yard allowed per coverage snap. Those numbers rivaled some of the top players at his position. And he generated those stats while fending off Artie Burns, Sidney Jones and Tre Brown, all of whom were thrown in at various points of the season to fight for Jackson’s job.

Although Seattle’s staff was pleased with Jackson’s play on a defense that ranked 13th in passer rating allowed, the team used the No. 5 pick in the 2023 draft on cornerback Devon Witherspoon. Just like that, Jackson’s job was again in jeopardy. But all drafting Witherspoon did was bring out the best in Jackson, who was Seattle’s most dynamic defensive player during OTAs and minicamp. He was a pass breakup machine at a time when cornerbacks are limited in how aggressive they can be playing the ball, and that’s been the case through three days of camp as well.

Seattle intends to start Witherspoon and Woolen at cornerback in its base defense this season. Witherspoon just recently reported to camp after missing the first two days due to a contract dispute, and Woolen is currently on the physically unable to perform list with a knee injury.

But what makes Jackson so important to Seattle this season is that even with Witherspoon and Woolen healthy, the coaches still plan to have Jackson on the field. Part of the reason Seattle has experimented with Witherspoon at nickel is because of how beneficial it is to have Jackson on the field in sub packages and obvious passing situations. Jackson tackles well, stays on top of deep routes and is growing more confident each day.

“He’s always been steady and been that rock, and I think last year he just got that confidence, and his confidence has continued to rise throughout OTAs and minicamp,” safety Quandre Diggs said. “He had a great OTAs and minicamp, so he’s ready to go.”

Diggs, a nine-year veteran who began his career as a cornerback, recalled his first impression of Jackson, fresh off the plane after being cut by the Patriots ahead of the 2021 regular season.

“When he got here, he got off the plane, and he had to do our competition period,” Diggs said. “He had like six one-on-ones and he’s just dead tired. We was like, ‘You gassed, huh?’ And he was like, ‘No, I don’t get tired.’”

Jackson’s mental makeup directly influences the way he performs on the field. He’s big for a cornerback, listed at 6-foot-1 and 210 pounds. Knowing this, Jackson takes pride in his tackling. A cornerback his size who isn’t a reliable tackler, in Jackson’s mind, is basically asking to ride the bench. He led Seattle’s defensive back room in tackles last season. In fact, his favorite play from last season is a chase-down tackles against the 49ers in Week 15.

BIG PLAY: Jordan Mason 55-yd rush#49ers 21 #Seahawks 13 4th pic.twitter.com/BWto7rSYng

— Sᴘᴏʀᴛs 24/7 (@Sports_24x7_) December 16, 2022

Late in the fourth quarter, running back Jordan Mason broke a 55-yard run down the left side of the field, though Jackson was able to stop him from scoring by covering 66 total yards and maxing out at 21.4 mph (according to Next Gen Stats) to catch Mason at the 2-yard line. The game was over as soon Mason picked up a first down, but Jackson believes in giving maximum effort regardless of the circumstance.

“That was, by far, more important than the interception, any play I had,” Jackson said. “I take pride in that. I always been that dude: If you break, I don’t care who you is, I’m gon’ catch you.”

In applauding Jackson’s performance during the offseason program, coach Pete Carroll in June said the 26-year-old corner had “almost a dominant” camp. That’s high praise from the head coach, but all Jackson heard was Carroll using the word “almost.”

“Guys on the team like Geno (Smith), DK (Metcalf), (Tyler) Lockett, Riq and a bunch of others, those guys dominate,” Jackson said. “So, if I want to be in that caliber, the next time he talks about me it needs to be ‘he dominated’ not almost dominate.”

Jackson will never lack motivation. In high school, he taught himself a trick: When he’s working out, doing a drill or sprinting in a game or practice, he just imagines that each moment is for someone in his family. For his 1-year-old daughter, Ryann. His 5-year-old son, Michael Jackson Jr. His grandmother. His uncle. One of the best parts of being a starter last season, Jackson says, was driving to every home game with his girlfriend and two children in tow to watch him play.

“When I’m dead tired and done covered my man, and they throw the ball opposite corner, ‘Just sprint to the hash for your daughter,’” Jackson says to himself. “At the end of the day, I’m playing this game for them, to make their life better — and live out my dream, but it’s more about them.”

Jackson doesn’t feel he’s competing with the other cornerbacks. They’re one unit. When one shines, they all shine. When one gets best, they all get beat. Jackson carried that mindset last season, and he’s going to do the same as the coaches decide whether to start him or Witherspoon.

Jackson loved the Witherspoon pick. “We got another dog in the room,” he said. “You don’t want to look in the room and be like, ‘I’m the only dog in here.’ If we got a dog at one corner and the other three spots is weak links, we’re going to be very bad, and you’re not making no plays.”

So, whether starting or coming in as an outside cornerback in sub packages, Jackson’s plan is to compete with himself to be at his best, play for his family and take advantage of the opportunity to more than a practice squad player.

“Being on practice squad all them times, I really prayed like, ‘Just give me a chance,’” Jackson said. “When I got my chance, I did it. The biggest thing I love, as the season went along, you just see my confidence go from ground zero to the sky. I feel like I need to build on that.”

(Top photo of Michael Jackson: John Froschauer / Associated Press)

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