DeSean Jackson's tumultuous season came to a close with the wide receiver admitting he let his ongoing contract situation affect his approach and that he's open to playing under the franchise tag in 2012.
Jackson was upset at the lack of a multi-year contract after reaching consecutive Pro Bowls, and was benched for one game during the season for missing a team meeting. He also struggled with dropped passes before regaining his focus and finishing the season with a pair of strong games.
"It's a business. I wish I could give you an answer saying if I'm going to be here next year or not, but honestly I really don't know, so we'll just see how it plays out," Jackson told the Philadelphia Inquirer. "It's kind of out of my control, out of my power. I hope that I'll be here. These guys on this team and just the fans, it's home."
Jackson finished his fourth season with 58 catches for 961 yards and four touchdowns.
"I can admit to certain things affecting me during the season. I just want to apologize," Jackson said. "I probably could have handled it a little bit different, but now sitting here after the season's over I can just say I was able to put it behind me and really just fight for my teammates, fight for my organization."
—The Eagles finished with 38 turnovers, the second most in the league. Quarterback Michael Vick had 18 of them, throwing 14 interceptions and losing four fumbles. He finished 23rd in the league in interception percentage.
But Vick hasn't been talking like a man who feels he needs to throw fewer interceptions next season. He has suggested that it's the cost of doing business in the NFL.
"We've had an opportunity to win a lot of football games that we were in," Vick said. "Certainly the turnovers hurt and didn't allow us to take it a step further and win those games. But every season is different and I still feel like I do a great job of not turning the ball over. So I'll continue to work in that area and continue to play smart football and continue to do everything I can to help this team out."
—Offensive line coach Howard Mudd, who was coaxed out of retirement by Andy Reid and turned one of the Eagles' biggest preseason question marks into one of its best-performing units, told his players before Sunday's game that he expects to be back next year, assuming Andy Reid is still the head coach. There had been speculation that Mudd might want to head back into retirement so that he could spend time with his grandchildren.
"He pretty much told us he's coming back," right tackle Todd Herremans said. "That's good news for us because he's the best in the business. We're just going to keep getting better."
—The Eagles' 2012 opponents were announced.
Home: Dallas Cowboys, New York Giants, Washington Redskins, Atlanta Falcons, Carolina Panthers, Detroit Lions, Baltimore Ravens, Cincinnati Bengals
Away: Dallas Cowboys, New York Giants, Washington Redskins, New Orleans Saints, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Arizona Cardinals, Cleveland Browns, Pittsburgh Steelers
Game dates and times will be announced in the spring.
NFL coaches Spagnuolo, Morris fired
Payton: Lions a threat even without playoff experience
Copyright © 2012 The Sports Xchange. All Rights Reserved.
Signing in ensures ratings are counted accurately and prevents system abuse.
Sign in to rate or, sign up for a new account.
