DeSean Jackson: Why His Concussion Is a Red Flag for Eagles Playoff Hopes
Philadelphia Eagles wideout DeSean Jackson suffered a severe concussion during the Eagles' 31-17 win over the Atlanta Falcons Sunday afternoon.
Jackson is listed as questionable this week, but head coach Andy Reid said it was "a real stretch" that Jackson would see the field this week.
Concussions have a way of lingering (just ask the Twins' Justin Morneau), but even if it doesn't, this latest injury doesn't bode well for the Eagles. Here are 10 reasons why Jackson's injury is a serious red flag for Philly.
10. The Tennessee Titans
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We know almost for sure that Jackson will be out this week against the Titans. Tennessee's pass defense hasn't been stellar, but with corner Cortland Finnegan, we know they're capable of closing down one receiver per game.
Most teams just throw to their other wideouts, but now, Philly doesn't have a second big play wideout to throw to. This could mean big trouble for the Eagles this week and could drop them to 4-3 with a loss.
9. Jason Avant
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Avant is Jackson's backup at receiver. He's only 27, but he's never quite been able to deliver on the promise he showed as a college receiver at Michigan. He's nowhere near as explosive as Jackson, and his hands are unreliable at best. Can he fill Jackson's shoes? I doubt it.
8. The Eagles Defense Stinks
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Let's get one thing straight right now: The Eagles defense is terrible. It's been good in recent years, but the unit just hasn't clicked well in 2010.
Teams have averaged 115.7 rushing yards against the Eagles, and their secondary, while capable of shutting you down, relies heavily on turnovers to function. In other words, it's not that hard to score on Philly.
What does this mean for Jackson? Well, if the defense struggles, the offense has to be able to keep up with the opposition. Without Jackson, that gets infinitely harder. In short, because of the defense's inability to keep teams from scoring, the Eagles offense will suffer.
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7. LeSean McCoy
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McCoy is the starting running back in Philly, and he's a good one. He's a workhorse, capable of shouldering the brunt of the carries and producing excellent numbers.
But McCoy's yards have come against defenses that had to respect both of Philly's wideouts. Now, they only really have to worry about Jeremy Maclin. That's one more player a defense can put into the box to defend the run, which increases the likelihood of a bad day. And with one more weapon out, the Eagles can ill afford LeSean McCoy having a bad game.
6. Jeremy Maclin
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With Jackson injured, second-year wideout Jeremy Maclin becomes the go-to receiver. Maclin's been a good player in 2010, putting up big numbers when called upon to do so, but his skill set is different from Jackson's.
Maclin is fast, but not that fast. His hands are good, and he's got decent size. However, he has yet to be the only go-to guy in the NFL for an entire game, or multiple games. We don't know if he can handle it.
If he can't, the Eagles will find themselves in serious trouble.
5. Kevin Kolb
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The Eagles quarterback Kevin Kolb is in the midst of learning on the job. He's essentially a rookie out there this season.
He lost his job once—to Michael Vick—but has it back now, and was clicking with the offense.
Now, suddenly, his best wideout has gone down for at least a week, and probably significantly more than that.
We saw Kolb struggle when the offense was at full strength. Now, with a depleted wideout corps, what's to say he won't struggle again?
4. The Offensive System
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The Eagles offense needs DeSean Jackson in order to function at peak performance. He's the best deep threat on the team, someone defenses have to respect, which frees up space for other players to make plays.
Now? With Jackson out of the lineup, the Eagles are without a key cog. Everything about the offense won't work quite as well. In short, until Jackson returns, Philly won't be quite right. And in the super competitive NFC East, they need to be.
3. Donovan McNabb
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When Donovan McNabb was an Eagle, this would have been child's play. The current Redskins quarterback played with a complete and total lack of wideouts for his first several years in the league, yet still managed to put up excellent numbers.
But Donovan's not going to come riding over the hill to bail the Eagles out this time. Instead, they have a kid who has yet to make Eagles fans forget about McNabb. Without their former leader, this situation is treacherous at best.
2. Andy Reid
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Andy Reid is stubborn. He loves to throw the ball, seems to hate running the ball and doesn't change his offense or defense for anyone.
With Jackson out, the Eagles need to adjust their playcalling to throw fewer deep balls and play to their healthy wideouts' strengths. But with Reid at the helm, it won't change one iota. That's going to be a problem when Jason Avant can't catch up to a ball Jackson would have gotten to.
1. The Nature of Concussions
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Concussions are one of the finickiest injuries an athlete can sustain. Brains are all affected in different ways. Some players miss little to no time, others can miss months from hits of the same level of force.
The Eagles had better hope that Jackson can get back soon. While they can patch together a strong offense for a few weeks, they don't have the talent to keep it up for more than three or four weeks.
It's been reported that Jackson suffered memory loss, and the concussion was of the severe variety. If he's out for long, this team is in serious jeopardy of crashing out of the playoff race.
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