Bell: Stock of Bengals' Hue Jackson could hinge on AJ McCarron's performance
It's crisis time for the Cincinnati Bengals. But if you know Hue Jackson, the upbeat offensive coordinator suddenly charged to run his system with untested quarterback AJ McCarron, he sees this glass as half full.
“We’re going to make some magic happen,” Jackson declared to a group of Cincinnati reporters this week. “That’s all. We will.”
Easier said than done.
With Jackson’s help, Andy Dalton was playing better than ever. He was an extension of the creative Jackson, whose gameplans are so versatile, flooded with formations.
Now, with a fractured thumb, Dalton is projected to miss four to six weeks, meaning the MVP candidate may or may not make it back for the playoffs.
As McCarron prepares for his first NFL start, it’s worth noting that he won three national championships at Alabama. If he can handle the competition, the pro stage shouldn’t be a problem. Then again, an Alabama quarterback hasn’t won an NFL game since Jeff Rutledge ... in in 1987.
You can believe that Jackson has been in lockdown mode, tailoring a gameplan that specifically underscores what McCarron does best. It’s not about changing the system, but Jackson will undoubtedly have to scale back to some degree because it won’t be run by a fifth-year vet like Dalton.
Still, Jackson talks about magic and staying aggressive with so many sweet weapons in tow.
“We aren’t going to stop being who we are,” he said.
Cincinnati is on the verge of clinching a playoff berth for the fifth consecutive season but is beneath a hovering can’t win-the-big-one cloud. Not only have the Bengals failed to win a postseason game under coach Marvin Lewis or with Dalton, they have the NFL’s longest drought without a playoff victory, going back to 1990.
Now that win-or-else playoff pressure could fall on McCarron — directed by Jackson.
Jackson is expected to be a hot head coaching candidate during the upcoming hiring cycle. He will surely get a push from the Fritz Pollard Alliance (FPA), which promotes and monitors minority hiring. John Wooten, FPA’s chairman, told me Wednesday that Jackson is already positioned as FPA’s top candidate, as was the case last year for Todd Bowles, hired by the New York Jets.
Now, Jackson’s handling of McCarron could be a huge swing factor. Jackson’s stock rose with Dalton, and now decision-makers can get a read on his response to major adversity.
“He’s coached offense and defense at this level,” Wooten said. “That’s what makes him so unique.”
That Jackson, fired after one season as coach of the Oakland Raiders, is being mentioned in the mix for another top job reflects quite a personal comeback. Despite leading the Raiders to an 8-8 finish in 2011 (still the franchise’s best record since the 2002 team advanced to Super Bowl XXXVII), he had a rough time getting back on his feet. Maybe it was his postgame meltdown after Oakland lost the finale and missed the playoffs that year, when he maintained that he needed control of all personnel decisions, which turned teams off.
Jackson came back to Lewis’ staff in the bottom-of-the-totem-pole role as an assistant to the defensive backs and special teams coaches. Talk about coming down from a high perch.
The Bengals, though, knew Jackson well enough after he previously served as their receivers coach. After former offensive coordinator Jay Gruden landed Washington's head job in 2014, Jackson was promoted.
But his resurrection included a lesson from that Raiders team: Jackson has been here before. In 2011, the challenge came with quarterback Jason Campbell’s season-ending fractured collarbone. Jackson responded by trading for Carson Palmer, who'd refused to play for the Bengals and had gone into temporary retirement while Dalton took over. The wheeling and dealing almost resulted in a playoff berth for Oakland.
Regardless, it always struck me that the Raiders blew it by not keeping Jackson. When he was fired, the trade — Jackson dealt first- and second-round picks for Palmer — was viewed as a factor that worked against him. In hindsight, it looks like a decent price to land a player who has proven to still be a franchise quarterback. Maybe the Raiders should have built around Palmer, who re-emerged as an MVP candidate after being traded to the Arizona Cardinals in 2013 for peanuts.
Jackson figured out a way when he lost his quarterback in 2011. But this time, the options don’t include luring a proven passer out of mothballs.
After Sunday's game against the San Francisco 49ers, a showdown looms against the Denver Broncos in Week 16 with a first-round bye likely on the line. We’re about to find out just how much magic Jackson can inspire.
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Follow NFL columnist Jarrett Bell on Twitter @JarrettBell