Football is played differently in the trenches. It’s nasty, gritty, smashmouth ball, exactly how Broncos defensive end Malik Jackson likes it.
Denver’s strength is its defense, but the headliners are typically all-pro outside linebackers Von Miller and DeMarcus Ware or ball-hawking cornerbacks Aqib Talib and Chris Harris.
Jackson is fine with that. He prefers the dirty work and for quarterbacks to hear him before they ever see him.
“You try to hit him and make him feel you,” Jackson said. “Of course you want him to get up and play again and go home to his families, but bruised up.”
That’s exactly what happened last Sunday in Cleveland.
In overtime, Cleveland took over at Denver’s 39-yard line after intercepting a Peyton Manning pass, five yards away from game-winning field goal range.
On first down, Cleveland double-teamed the 6-foot-5, 293-pound Jackson, hoping to prevent him from making a play. They did. But the double team helped free outside linebacker Shaquil Barrett with a one-on-one advantage on the edge which he used to stuff Browns back Robert Turbin for a three-yard loss. On second down, Jackson used his speed to bypass his man and crushed Browns’ quarterback Josh McCown for a defensive linemen’s dinner and dessert — a sack.
“All you do all week is watch film thinking: how can I get a sack?” Jackson said. “When you get one, it’s just pride. You represent your family with the name on the back of your jersey.”
The sack pushed the Browns back to third-and-21 at midfield, leading to a punt, after which the Broncos drove for the game-winning field goal.
Each sack increases the price tag of signing Jackson, who will be a free agent at season’s end.
“That’s the guy that should be getting a lot of praise,” defensive end Antonio Smith said, pointing toward Jackson’s locker. “He’s now in a role where he can dominate offensive linemen all game.”
A 2012 fifth-round pick out of Tennessee, Jackson has led the Broncos defensive linemen in tackles in each of the past two seasons, despite being a three-year reserve with only eight career starts coming into the season. This season, he was handed the reins as a full-time starter.
“I try to come in, game in and game out and just ball,” Jackson said. “(I) try to do as much as I can to show these coaches and Mr. (John) Elway what I can do and that they can lean on me for years to come.”
Penalties have been the one thing holding Jackson back from a potential Pro Bowl level. Every week it seems he has a costly personal foul.
In Oakland, he drew a flag for tossing the ball at Raiders’ receiver Michael Crabtree in retaliation, an act Broncos coach Gary Kubiak called childish. In Cleveland, it was a face mask penalty on McCown that negated a Jackson sack.
Kubiak has talked to him about the penalties and Jackson said he understands they need to be decreased. He said there’s often a thin line between being aggressive and committing a penalty, which he’s working to straddle.
While Jackson’s discipline can be challenged, his production is not up for debate.
Jackson is tied for second on the team in sacks with 3.5. He has played 69 percent of the team’s defensive snaps, the most among defensive linemen.
“Malik has worked really hard to get better. I think he’s a better practice player right now than he was, say two months ago,” Kubiak said.
Now, it’s up to Jackson to keep proving his worth.
Cameron Wolfe: 303-954-1891, cwolfe@denverpost.com or @CameronWolfe
