Adoree’ Jackson thinks he was in the fourth grade when he wrote his 10 Wishes in a notebook:
1. Job/career: Professional ballplayer.
2. Salary: $1.8 million.
3. Family: Wife & two kids.
4. Dreams: To be known as the GREATEST.
5. Home: Something decked out.
6. Car: 64 impala & a Viper.
7. Love: Somebody who wants me for me & not my skills.
8. Fit: Stay in shape not to buff.
9. Successful: Make all my dreams come true.
10. Graduate: Have a good education & full ride scholarship.
“I got some of ’em checked off,” Jackson told The Post on Wednesday.
Jackson’s 11th wish now is to return for Sunday’s Win And In game against the Colts at MetLife Stadium. He returned to the practice field on Wednesday listed as limited. He has been dearly missed over the past five games since suffering a sprained MCL returning a punt against the Lions.
“I miss them,” Jackson said.
He is more hopeful than he was a week ago.
“Each week I’m getting better,” Jackson said.
His return is his Giants’ teammates’ No. 1 wish.
“I think he plays with a lot of confidence, a lot of self-belief, and then obviously you have to have the ability,” Darius Slayton said. “I think he has all the physical tools as well as the mental mindset to be that guy.
“I don’t think it can be overstated how much he means to our team, even beyond being a player, just a personality out there. We miss him for sure, and hopefully he’s able to go soon.”
Adoree’ Jackson: “I miss them.”
Fabian Moreau and Nick McCloud have been trying to hold the fort in Jackson’s absence. Neither is Adoree’ Jackson.
“He’s definitely a top corner in the league,” safety Tony Jefferson said. “I think he doesn’t get as much respect as he deserves, but he was playing really, really well before his injury. He’s a type of guy that can change the dynamic of a defense once he’s in the game.”
Nick Foles would be less inclined to target Michael Pittman Jr. against Jackson. A playoff berth would likely bring Justin Jefferson or Deebo Samuel.
“He sticks to guys like glue,” Kayvon Thibodeaux said.
Jackson became Wink Martindale’s No. 1 corner because James Bradberry had signed with the Eagles as a salary cap casualty.
“I really didn’t take it as pressure, in a sense, I just took it as an opportunity to showcase my talents, my abilities,” he said.
He had been balling this season too.
“I didn’t get no picks,” Jackson said. “But I feel like I was competing, and I was competing at a high level.”
He was hopeful to return last week, but the Giants do not rush injured players back.
“He has experience of lining up against top guys,” Julian Love said. “He has the athletic ability to do everything a corner needs to do.”
Basketball and track — relays and the long jump — were his first loves.
“That confidence came back when I was in college going into my junior year, I went to the Olympic Trials,” Jackson said. “At that point I’m like, ‘Man, I just went against the best in the world.’ After I finished track, I told my [USC] coaches I was gonna win the Thorpe. I told ’em that year, like I want to guard the best receivers. It just so happened that our first game was versus Alabama, Calvin Ridley. And it just went from there.”
Jackson, like most up-and-coming cornerbacks, admired Darrelle Revis.
“His practice clips are pretty insane,” he said. “The patience, the things that he had — and how smart he was and how intuitive he was in the game.”
It’s almost as if he were born to play on this stage.
“It’s a tough city, but it’s a city that’s dedicated to the team,” Jackson said. “When they don’t like us it kinda makes me feel like my dad growing up, even if I played good he’ll still talk trash to me. It’s one of those things where I always knew how to accept that.”
Charles Jackson tells a story about the time his son was 5 or 6 years old.
“I think that’s when ‘Space Jam’ first came out,” Charles told The Post. “We had a California king bed, and the goal was on one side and he runs through the house and jumps over the whole bed and don’t touch the bed and dunked that ball on his little ‘Space Jam’ goal. And you know what he said? He looked at his momma and told his momma, ‘Ma, I’m gonna make you rich.’
“Then he showed her some people sitting on the first row in a basketball game on TV one day, ‘Mom, see that? See them people right there? That’s where you and Pa are gonna be sitting at right there.’ ”
Ma and Pa will be at MetLife if and when Adoree’ gives them the green light that he received the green light to return. The Giants hope it’s more than wishful thinking.
