Mike Jackson loved “daddy duty,” but he’s glad to be back on the field

“I remember the Detroit game; I was in the box in my suite, and my grandmother was in there, and I’m screaming the play out. And they ran what I said, and she was like, ‘Grandson, you actually know what you’re talking about.’

“So I just had to laugh it off. But inside I’m like, ‘Granny, this is not the time. Like I am frustrated right now.'”

And he was there as he and his wife welcomed their third child, born Tuesday of this week: a seven-pound, nine-ounce baby girl. Unlike when their first son was born eight years ago, Jackson didn’t go buy an air mattress to stick in the room, and unlike when their middle child was born, he wasn’t stuffed into a small sofa. This time, he got to stretch out on a couch that didn’t re-aggravate his groin injury. Not that it was a good night’s sleep, but that’s ok.

“I’m back on daddy duty,” he shared. “So the moment (she) makes a noise like, I’m up, throw the cover off like, ‘Alright, what I got to do?’ I just tell my wife, ‘Alright, tell me what I got to do.'”

He’d had the practice after her due date circled for a while as his target date to get back, because more than anything — well, more than anything other than the healthy birth of his daughter — Jackson just had one thought on his mind.