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Football is focus for Eagles' Jackson

The receiver said he doesn't care about "all that other stuff."

DeSean Jackson is looking to have another year like his breakout performance last season. (David Maialetti/Staff Photographer)
DeSean Jackson is looking to have another year like his breakout performance last season. (David Maialetti/Staff Photographer)Read more

DeSean Jackson, the Eagles' most dazzling star but also one of the quietest in recent months, said Wednesday he is focusing on football, and indicated that he is trying to leave potential distractions aside.

As revelations go, it wasn't much, but his four minutes in front of cameras and recorders marked the first time Jackson has spoken to the local media for more than a few moments since skipping the final week of the Eagles' voluntary practices in June.

"I'm just here to play football," Jackson said when asked about his media silence. "All that other stuff, I could care less about."

Jackson didn't specify what he meant by the "other stuff," but it seemed clear he was trying to put aside the questions about his contract that would have come up had he chosen to address the media before now.

Jackson said the hamstring that had given him trouble Tuesday was fine. He gave a vote of confidence to new quarterback Kevin Kolb, providing just a glimpse of the mind-set of the Eagles' most dangerous player 21/2 weeks before the regular season opens.

Jackson spoke while standing in front of his locker, wearing a powder-blue Kansas City Royals hat as he faced a swarm of cameras and recorders.

For a player of his importance, Jackson has received relatively little attention in the lead-up to this season, a result of both his own media embargo and an early training-camp injury that kept him off the field and out of the spotlight.

But an ankle-breaking run (for defenders) in the first quarter of the team's first preseason game, followed by a four-catch, 74-yard performance in one half in game two, has reaffirmed Jackson's status as the best among a class of talented Eagles receivers.

His performance has been so strong that coaches are wrestling with whether to keep using him as a punt returner, and get the ball in his hands a few extra times each game, or take that job away to protect him from potential injury.

Jackson, who last year said he wanted to catch 100 passes, declined to set out any similar aims for 2010.

"I'm not doing that this year. I could care less about all of that," he said. "I'm here to win games and to be a team player and to do everything I can to encourage my guys [to] go out there and just be successful and win games, that's all I care about."

Kolb took that as a sign of Jackson's maturity.

"Once you're established, like he is in the NFL, everybody knows he's a great player," Kolb said. "As you get older in age and you've been around for a long time you realize that, man, when those team goals come, all the personal accolades come with it. And all that matters in this deal is winning a Super Bowl, and all the rest is going to come with that."

The new quarterback and star receiver seem to have a rapport.

"We haven't lost a step since he's come in and been the man," Jackson said.

Kolb, who has targeted Jackson on the first pass of each of the first two preseason games, said the receiver has grown into a leader.

"The guy's a leader, he really is. And I don't think that everybody sees that. Every single day he brings his best and he picks up other guys around him. I'm not sure that everybody always gives him credit for that, and I think he deserves it," Kolb said.

It was an outspoken backing for a player who sometimes has shown individualistic tendencies.

Jackson was one of two Eagles, along with Asante Samuel, who skipped the last week of voluntary June practices. Jackson gave no public explanation for the decision. When the first team is resting during drills, Jackson often drifts away from the offense to talk to Samuel. He is one of the few players to break away from his fellow players on offense or defense.

And there are questions about how Jackson will handle his contract situation. He is in the third year of four-year, $3.47 million deal and is scheduled to make $805,000 this season. On the open market, he could command far more, but labor rules make it difficult for teams to give substantial raises.

So far, though, Jackson has avoided talking publicly about the situation and raising any controversy. In May, he said he planned to be patient. By declining to talk to reporters when he arrived at training camp, he dampened the issue.

Jackson fielded mostly football questions Wednesday.

He assured reporters he would be fine to play in Friday's preseason game after sitting out a portion of practice Tuesday with a hamstring tweak. "The hamstring is good man, no problems with the hamstring."

After about four minutes of talk, Jackson indicated that the mass interview was over. "I'm good," he said, cutting off a questioner, and squeezed past the media thicket, done talking, at least for now.