DeSean Jackson Drama has Familiar Ring

          The fact that DeSean Jackson has become a problem this season should be about as surprising as the fact that Christmas is on December 25^th.

          The Eagles knew he wanted a new contract since last year, they watched him holdout, and on Sunday Andy Reid de-activated him for missing a meeting. Now he’s whining about how hard it is to go to work.

          Jackson’s stupidity aside – he can go work 9 to 5 any time he wants and find out how hard it really is to go to work – this is the Eagles fault. They knew this was coming, but because they think they invented the NFL, Joe Banner, Jeff Lurie, and Reid, did what they always do. They insisted that Jackson had a contract and they would decide when to extend it or not.

          I’m not suggesting that Jackson’s blameless. He should have either had the guts to holdout or the wherewithal to play the season out to the best of his ability without a new contract. He has clearly chosen the middle ground.

          Since the new collective bargaining agreement threatened him with a loss of a year of service, Jackson ended his holdout. Publicly, at least, he’s kept his mouth shut about his contract until now. Yet he’s had a rather quiet season, seen loafing on many plays. I know that in recent weeks reporters have shown that his statistics for the year are on par with his career – which doesn’t exactly bode well for him. But his impact has dropped off tremendously.

          Jackson is all about the big play – the 80-yard touchdown that changes the game. Those plays just haven’t been there this year. Brian Baldinger has suggested on 97.5 that the Eagles are intentionally not throwing him the ball to keep his contract value down.

          True or not, the result proves once again that the Eagles have mishandled a talented receiver. Instead of making him happy or moving on without him, the Eagles thought they could make him play by their rules. Sound familiar?

          Can you say, “Terrell Owens?”

          I’m tempted to suggest that the Jackson situation hasn’t blown up as badly as the Owens saga that we all endured. But last time I checked, Thanksgiving is still more than a week away and the Eagles have no realistic shot of making the playoffs.