Reid/Jackson clear the air; Samuel limited
The Philadelphia Inquirer Blog - Eagles
Reid/Jackson clear the air; Samuel limited
Jeff McLane, Inquirer Staff Writer
Andy Reid and DeSean Jackson met Monday afternoon to clear the air after the Eagles head coach scolded the wide receiver following a bitter 31-26 loss to the Bears on Sunday, team sources said.
Jackson declined to answer questions Monday after practice. He simply shook his head when a reporter asked for an interview and walked out of the Eagles locker room at the NovaCare Complex with a team official.
After his radio show on WIP (610-AM) at Chickie and Pete's, Reid was asked about meeting with Jackson on Monday.
"What goes on in the locker room, stays in the locker room," Reid said.
During the show Reid was asked about the original altercation with the mecurial receiver.
“If I have a problem with any players, we talk about it," Reid said. "I’m not agreeing with you at all here. If anything happens, I address it as a football team."
The Eagles held a relatively light practice on Monday. Cornerback Asante Samuel, who missed Sunday's game with a knee strain, did return but was limited. He and Joselio Hanson split roughly 50 percent of the first-team repetitions, according to Hanson. Samuel was non-committal about a return by Thursday's game against the Texans.
"We'll see," Samuel said. "I'm working every day to see how it goes."
Reid said the team would get a better indication of how far away Samuel is from returning after a night's rest.
Defensive end Juqua Parker (hip) and receiver Riley Cooper (knee) did not practice. Reid said that if Cooper can't play Thursday, Chad Hall would dress.
The Reid-Jackson feud dominated the day-after discussion of the Eagles, though.
Reid called out Jackson not for his two-catches-for-26-yards performance, but for the divaesque receiver's behavior before, during and after the game, according to multiple team sources. The coach thought that Jackson was "goofing off" and wasn't "mentally prepared" before the game, one Eagles starter said.
When an angry Reid admonished his team, with what one veteran said was the worst tirade he had seen out of the coach, Jackson became the target. Reid didn't think the receiver was paying proper attention and the two had a brief exchange, according to multiple Eagles sources.
When the locker room opened after Reid's red-faced post-game press conference, Jackson was seated in front of his locker in only shorts with his head buried in his hand. He sat that way for several moments and then put headphones on. Various Eagles players approached Jackson to talk. He then had animated conversations with quarterback Michael Vick, receiver Jeremy Maclin and running back LeSean McCoy.
Jackson declined an interview request and eventually went to take a shower before access to the Eagles locker room was closed off.
Reid and Jackson came to an accord, according to the sources, and returned to their preparation for Thursday's game against the Texans. The original exchange between the two was the product of Reid's general unhappiness from the Eagles' performance against Chicago and Jackson's own disappointment with his outing, a member of the Eagles coaching staff said.
I am thrilled that AR went off on DJ. This sets the tone for a focus that the entire team (player and coaches) will need for the balance of the year. Man up boys you"re being paid to win football games not text. Go EAGLES.— adipaolo- There is no doubt that Jax doesn't like contact. He gets more gun shy as the weeks go by. It will be an issue because in the end he will have a bunch of big plays but he won't catch more than 1,000 yds but he thinks he is 1,300 yd 10-12 TD guy. He can't be that if he drops a bunch of balls and doesn't catch anything intermediate in the middle of the field. He is scared to death to run any kind of crossing route.— ccheung
- @fortunateson - more proof that we're smarter than Bears fans:
E A G L E S - 6 letters. Oh, plus we root for the Phillies rather than the Cubs. But you may be a Sox fan; don't they play in the league with a DH, short fielder and the 10 run mercy rule?— terrid - Andy Reid should have a red face for Bobby April. What's going on with that?— escapedcamden4monterey
- Nice post jamesiri. A person dies and you make a joke of it? Wonder if it would be so funny if it was a member of your family?? Idiot...— DavidS.
- For once, I am siding w/ Fat Andy..........this team needed the riot act. I wonder if Andy was just very hungry after the game and that's what cause his outburst. Snickers anyone?— Tar Heel 1
Comment removed.- this team was in need of a reality check after their previous 3 game run. i think they started smelling themselves a little bit after that giants win. all in all, going 3-4 over the previous 4 games isn't too shabby.— tboneee
- fat andy should keep his mouth shut the birds will never win a super bowl with him as coach— allan1938
- I agree, everyone take a bong hit and just chill!— phillynupe4
- Yes Djack was a no show and bradly well we all know what little he does, but the main reason we lost was a the fact that Asante was not on the field. yeah i know that field was pretty bad but how many times did the his replacement blow coverage? Just hope Asante is back and health for thurday— KrackinWise
- I would trade DeSean in a second for Larry Fitzgerald of Arizona.
DeSean goes MIA far too many times, he did it 3 times against
Dallas last year. He is way too up and down for me? You might have
a superstar one game, or a guy that gets disinterested the next, can you say Randy Moss.— mikey48 - KrackinWise very good point on Bradley, the guy goes from being the
one of the best MLBs in football two years ago, who barely made
mental errors, to constantly being out of place, missing people
in his gap, how Forte went for 45 yards early,and constantly getting
beat by tight ends with 1/2 his speed???? It still can't be recovery from his ACL, I mean he is flying around the field, but in a very uncontrolled fashion, like his predecessor Jeremiah Trotter. Trotter drove me nuts with all his missed tackles, by over perusing the runner.
— mikey48 - I would have been surprised if they HAD won the game! How about a reality check here kids: 1)Da Bears...IN Chicago. 2)Bears in prime time Nationally Televised game, looking to get some respect back. 3)Best defense in the league! After playing, and winning, another GREAT defense last week. 4)Unlike us, Da Bears take defense SERIOUSLY! 5)Our punt and kick coverage units looked like a chinese fire-drill. 6)Our "D" has exactly ONE...count him....ONE, bona-fide STUD. And Trent Cole can't cover receivers very well at all! 7)Da Bears have at LEAST three, and a unit cohesiveness hard to match. 8)Again, our O-Line was found to be in a sad state...couldn't block four with five and sometimes five plus. 9)Given all that, our Iggles are STILL in a pretty neat place! FLY IGGLES FLY!!!— TBear
- the only thing worse than the field was the team in eagles uniform. they need a beat down from top to bottom on both sides. No hurry up ever? run the football, over 6YPC? Maclin is a beast, feed him the ball, and get avant and celek into the game early. They are taking elements of their game out for the opposing defenses. And lastly, all this talk about screens!? why not use them more— xlGmanlx
