DeSean says return to Linc will be 'a huge game'

ASHBURN, Va. - Less than 48 hours after the smallest player on his team (Darren Sproles) stood taller than anyone else on the field Monday night in Indianapolis, Chip Kelly told a "big" lie.

The Eagles coach was asked Wednesday why he released DeSean Jackson in March, a move that resulted in the three-time Pro Bowl receiver's signing with Washington as a free agent. Kelly reverted to his philosophy about how he favors big people over little ones.

"Yeah, just trying to build the overall team in terms of what we're looking for offensively and how we wanted to get bigger at the wideout spot and that's what we did," the Eagles coach told the Washington media.

The bigger lie came on the follow-up question: What was Kelly's level of concern about Jackson's character off the field?

"Zero," the coach said.

This was said on a conference call with reporters - not a video conference - so it was impossible to tell exactly how much Kelly's nose grew as he was speaking. It does not matter at this point because the Eagles are off to a 2-0 start without Jackson and their fans adore the head coach more than Geppetto loved his troubled wooden boy.

We may never know the sordid details as to why Kelly decided Jackson needed to go elsewhere, so we will have to settle for the theater of it all, with Act I scheduled for Sunday when Jackson and his team travel to Lincoln Financial Field for an NFC East game against the Eagles.

As much as Jackson is all about "moving forward," he was willing to admit that his return to Philadelphia has special meaning. Jackson said, "I don't plan on missing this game" despite a left shoulder injury that knocked him out in the first quarter of Washington's rout of Jacksonville on Sunday. He did not practice on Wednesday.

"Obviously, being in Philadelphia my first six years and playing there and accomplishing some of the things I accomplished to start my career was a huge time in my life, a huge part of the beginning of my NFL career," Jackson said. "So obviously, it's going to be a huge game for myself and something I always looked forward to ever since everything went down the way it went down."

If Jackson misses anyone in Philadelphia, it is running back LeSean McCoy. The two still communicate regularly by phone and text, and McCoy introduced himself as DeSean Jackson when he started his conference call with the Washington media.

McCoy "is like a brother to me," Jackson said. "We talk on an everyday basis almost. As much as he misses playing with me, I miss playing with him as well . . . because we felt the dual threat that me and him had together was unlike any other in the league. I wish him the best. Unfortunately, this week I can't really wish him the best against us, so hopefully my defensive boys go out there and get on him and shut him down."

Jackson's introduction at the Linc should be fascinating. Whatever transgressions he may or may not have committed to get kicked off Chip's Ship should not erase the magical moments Jackson provided during his tenure with the Eagles. His punt return against the New York Giants, for example, has to go down as one of the top three regular-season moments in franchise history.

"That's something I'm going to have to wait to see," Jackson said when asked about what kind of reception he anticipates from Eagles fans. "I felt I put it on the line for them when I played there and [know] what I've done to help that organization win games. I'll be ready for whatever it is."

The best educated guess anybody has had about what led to the diminutive big-play receiver's departure from the Eagles is that his attitude did not align with the way Kelly wanted things done. A story also circulated that the Eagles were concerned about Jackson having connections with the Crips, a street gang that is most prominent in the streets of Los Angeles, but the team has denied that was the case.

Of course, Kelly also denies that attitude was an issue at all, so it's difficult to believe anything he says on this matter. It is, however, interesting to think about what went so wrong with Jackson's behavior that he was shown the exit, especially when you hold it up in the light against what has happened recently in the NFL.

Jackson was not involved in spousal abuse or child abuse. He was a diva, but that definition is synonymous with almost every star receiver in the NFL. By all accounts down here on the Beltway, Jackson has been a model citizen so far.

"My first thought when I heard he was coming here was, 'Why would they release DeSean Jackson?' " Washington safety Duke Ihenacho said. "You just never know what this league is about. It's full of surprises. Anything is possible in this league. I don't care, he's here and he's my teammate now. He's cool. He's not what people think. He's a good player and he practices hard."

This is still the honeymoon phase of Jackson's tenure with his new team, so time will tell if he can remain a solid teammate and great player. For now, he seems humble and happy in his new home and, despite a bum shoulder, ready for the much-anticipated return to his former one.

@brookob