DeSean on the field, Says Critics Don't Matter
Eagles wideout DeSean Jackson said everyone is entitled to their opinion of his style -- specifically, his backwards dive into the end zone in the fourth quarter of Sunday night's victory at Dallas -- but he plays to the fans, and as long as they appreciate him, critics don't matter. Even if one of the critics is his quarterback, Michael Vick, who said after the game he thought the penalty-drawing dive was "unnecessary."
Of more immediate importance, Jackson said the foot he injured Sunday will not keep him from playing against the Giants this week. Then Jackson went out and was on the practice field with no trace of Wednesday's limp. He left after about 45 minutes of the session and was officially listed on the injury report as having not practiced. Apparently, the Eagles can list Jackson as not having practiced if he didn't work 11-on-11. He ran patterns only in 7-on-7 drills, so he didn't practice. Even though he did.
"I'll be ready for Sunday," Jackson said. "Can't let my team go out there without me."
"Everybody's not going to like it," Jackson said when asked about Vick's reaction."I could care less about who likes it and who doesn't. I do it because it's entertainment. That's the type of business we're in, entertainment. The fans like it. Everybody else, like I say, you wanna talk bad about it, that's your opinion, I could care less. That's his own opinion. He's his own man. I'm my own man. I coulda just wished I didn't get penalized for it, to hurt my team, but as far as me doing my celebrations, doing my entertainment, that's going to be me and I'll still do that."
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Asante Samuel and Winston Justice were on the field and listed as limited participants in practice.
Linebacker Keenan Clayton did not practice. Jorrick Calvin (back), Nick Cole (knee) and Clay Harbor (abdomen) were listed as full participants.
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The Eagles signed running back Joique Bell to the practice squad and released TE Cornelius Ingram from the practice squad.
Bell spent Weeks 3-8 on the Eagles active roster, after being signed off the Buffalo Bills practice squad on September 21. He was waived by the Eagles on Nove. 10 and claimed by Indianapolis the next day. He played in five games with the Colts before being waived on Dec. 14.
Ingram was a fifth-round draft pick by the Eagles in 2009, but he missed the entire season with a knee injury after also missing his last season at Florida with surgery on the same knee. He was released at the end of training camp, but was re-signed to the practice squad several week ago.
At the time, coach Andy Reid said the Eagles wanted to see how Ingram was moving around.
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The Eagles or Giants could lose out on a home playoff game this season under the existing playoff format.
The NFC East winner will end up with a home game, but the second-place finisher likely will end as a wild card and have to travel to the NFC West winner despite having a better record. The Eagles and Giants are both 9-4. St. Louis and Seattle are tied atop the NFC West at 6-7.
Currently the division winners get the top four seeds and the wild cards receive the fifth and sixth seeds. The highest seeded team gets the home game.
McKay, who co-chairs the competition committee, said the proposal has received as many as 18 votes in the past but not the 24 necessary for passage. Some owners think there should be a reward for winning your division.
"It's a tough question," Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie told reporters. "If you're in a very difficult division, it's tough to achieve a great record.... We tend to go back and forth on that from one year to the next."
"For me, a team that wins their division with a .500 record or worse shouldn't necessarily get a home game over a team that wins 10 or 11 games," Giants co-wner John Mara said. "I can't tell you I have a lot of hope about that passing. It's been discussed in the past and never gone anywhere."
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