Eagles-Redskins II: What Did We Learn?
Jeff McLane
Birds' Eye View
December 21, 2014 11:05 AM
LANDOVER, Md. – It didn’t seem possible with the hapless Redskins riding a six-game losing streak, but the Eagles coughed up their third straight loss, dropping to 9-6 and virtually out of the playoffs. Three weeks ago, they looked like a postseason lock and possibly a team that could have a first-round bye. Now the Eagles are hanging by a thread and need the Cowboys to lose against the Colts on Sunday and at Washington next week to have any life. They would also have to win next week at the New York Giants -- not a sure thing in this pitiful December. Here’s what we learned:
1. Chip Kelly has a problem and it may be in the locker room. His decision to release DeSean Jackson and bring back Riley Cooper was never going to please every player on the team. Kelly obviously knew that. But it certainly raised eyebrows from a certain faction of the locker room and in recent weeks there have increasingly been murmurs from several players about the decision. The way the Eagles lost on Saturday, with Jackson delivering daggers to the defense, prompted two players to lament his absence to me. “And then [Jackson] burns us,” one starter said. “That hurt because you think, ‘Damn, he should be on our team. Why he isn’t he on our team?’” Another player: “I miss him. We miss him. … It was a mistake.” There are others, but they’re unwilling to go on the record for obvious reasons. Jackson said after the game that some of his former teammates were telling him as much even during the game. “They constantly tell me how much they miss me and they wish I was still there, but that’s a decision they chose to make in the front office.” Let’s be clear: It was Kelly’s choice. Right or wrong, it’s had ramifications in the locker room. It’s unclear if it will fester.
3. The decision to release Jackson made the Eagles weaker on the field. And this isn’t an opinion made in hindsight. Jeremy Maclin has had a monster season (82 catches for 1,269 yards and ten touchdowns), but it was never an either-or choice for the Eagles. They could have had both receivers back. Maclin has always supported the decision. He initially seemed to be one of the leading proponents for change. His relationship with Jackson appeared to have fallen out. But Jackson had kind words for his former teammate when I spoke to him last Sunday and Maclin said last week that the perception they didn’t get along was off base. But his comments after Saturday’s game struck me, because it sounded as if agreed that dumping Jackson didn’t help the offense. “He’s a great talent. We all know this,” Maclin said. “He’s one of the best deep threats in this league. We all know this, though. As far as talking about what the offense looked like – me and DeSean played together five years. I understand not in this system. But we did play together for five years. We aren’t together and that’s that. I can’t go back in time and put us on the same team.” There’s a valid argument that releasing Jackson improved the team’s culture. He is in many ways a “Me” player. But every team has a few of those guys. If your culture is so great it should be able to compensate for one or two odd balls, especially if they have Jackson-like talent. As far as a business decision, letting Jackson go was a bad one. The Eagles took a $6 million cap hit. They also let a Pro Bowl player in the prime of his career walk without receiving compensation. If Kelly wanted him out, it would have made more sense to do it after this season. Asked if Jackson’s two 100-yard receiving games against the Eagles made him think back to his decision to release the receiver, Kelly, ever the literalist said, “No, I was thinking about the football game.”