"Nate Jackson" is a writer and former American football tight end. He was signed by the San Francisco 49ers as an undrafted free agent in 2002 and went on to play six seasons for the Denver Broncos. He played college football at Menlo College. His writing about the NFL has appeared in Slate (magazine)/Slate, Deadspin, The Daily Beast, The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal. His memoir Slow Getting Up: A Story of NFL Survival from the Bottom of the Pile was released by HarperCollins on September 17, 2013.

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It is very frustrating, but I keep plugging along, ... I take it day by day. . . . It shouldn't be that long of an injury, I just had a little setback in the game. It just pushed me back a little bit. Every day is a little better.

It's getting better, ... I just didn't practice this week. You can't play if you don't practice.

It was feeling pretty good before the game on Friday, ... It wasn't feeling 100 percent, but it was feeling pretty good. Then I tweaked it a little bit during the game and that set it back a little bit. That's where we are now. I suffered a setback.

It's a new position for me, so I don't think the plan all along was to throw me into the fire right away.

I think the coaches already have a pretty decent idea of what they're going to do, but there's always a couple decisions that they're not quite sure of heading into that last game, and the last game, the way it turns out, might swing it one way or the other.

A high hamstring pull is the type of thing that will nag you and if you try to come back before it's ready, ... It can re-aggravate itself, which is what it did.

You just have to listen to your body, as hard as that is to do, ... You want to be out there playing. You want to do all the things that are going to help your team. The bottom line is you've got to listen to your body and not disobey its orders.

I've been staying in it mentally. And they'll work me in as they see fit.

I had Jerry's posters hanging up all over my wall. It was a little surreal seeing him in here in camp. Then you get to know him and realize he's a guy just like you are, except he's an exceptional guy. I enjoyed having him around, and I know everyone else did, too. It was sad to see him go.