Eagles center Jamaal Jackson spoke to the media after passing a serious test by going through his first practice in pads, since he injured his knee last year against the Seattle Seahawks. Although he’s pleased with his progress, the veteran center wasn’t quick to guarantee that he was going to be playing in the first regular season game of the season on September 12th..
“That’s my goal, but a lot can change from now and Sept. 12,” Jackson said. “I’ll just play it by ear and get on my knees at night and pray to the good Lord because he got me here.”
It’s by no means a coincidence that Andy Reid and his staff are so eager to get Jackson back on the field for that first game. The Chiefs drew blood from the Eagles with the blitz, so all the teams they play early in season are sure to test them with the blitz.
Jackson and the Eagles training staff will monitor how his knee responds to the work, so that they can keep him on schedule to ready for that first game. His legs was examined this morning by one of the Eagles doctors and everything was coming along fine. Hopefully he’ll be saying the same thing tomorrow morning.
Jackson is trying to accomplish a rather astonish feat, returning to action only eight months after an ACL knee injury. So far so good for Jackson and he has expressed the excitement of getting back in action.
“The training staff, Rick and Joe, they did a great job of trying to monitor it, not give me too much”, Jackson told a group of the media. “So I think we’re working at a good pace. Like I said before, the leg feels good feels good, now it’s just part of preggression for them to give me more.”
Quarterback Kevin Kolb didn’t want to slight backup center Mike McGlynn but he talked about the importance of the experience and knowledge which Jackson has had calling protections against all types of fronts and blitzes.
This is the best news I have heard since Penelope Cruz accepted my offer for a weekend getaway..
J Jackson will solidify this line and pass coverages, wrok the silent counts which all are very improtant for the rest of the O/Line as well as a young QB starting his first year in the NFL..
I now have updated the Eagles as a 3 1/2 Underdogs to the Packers from an orginal line of 7 1/2 points
Underdog.. Now if they get Stacey Andrews replaced by N Cole/MJG or even McGlynn, I may have to move the game as a Toss-Up
You know i find it funny last year and the year before we were all asking for better play from the center!!! And now we are all sooooooo happy this guy is back! i know i am!
dawkplex1221, you stole my thunder!! I was about to post the exact same thing. Great minds . . .
Take your time big fella. We need you, but don’t want you hurt in the process just to start the first game (would be nice though!). Reid sucks as a Head coach and needs to just stick to coaching qb’s, Macho Harris isn’t a safety and he kinda sucks as a corner too. Hanson doesn’t seem to be the same guy who we gave the extension to, Andrews is a waste of space dud and its time to give his spot to MJG. Who would of ever thought the packers would be just as good today or even better for that matter since Favre left. I want my birdz to come out swinging but I get a sense that we will be hearing a lot of “I’m just as much to blame for the loss, I need to put my guys in a better position to win games” comments. The redzone problems don’t seem to be fixed, Qb play is average at best.We use to own the NFC Beast, now it seems as if were the new little freshman kid in the lunchline standing behind the Senior Varsity football players. Were the only team in the Beast who haven’t won a superbowl – as much as I love my team, I dont see that happening anytime soon. But, who knows? I hope I’m wrong. I hope there’s a ray of sunlight and a big gust of wind to lift our wings up to victory. Just a dream of mine; sometimes we win the Sb in our wishful thinking. This year is no different from the last 10. Losses to Carolina, Tampa bay, Cardinals, Rams, and the worst loss of all to the damn Patriots. I hope Reid is gone soon. I can’t wait til the day comes when were on G’s site blogging about what it’s like to be a lombardi trophy winner, and every comment is a good comment no matter who/what!. Until then…Hopefully were all still on earth to witness that moment. Peace
Good article:
Phil Sheridan: For NFL, no limits to greed, hypocrisy
Give the NFL credit for this much. It doesn’t let reason, fairness or logic stand in its way if there’s an extra dollar to be made.
Remember the league that fought the state of Delaware’s attempt to legalize sports betting? It is now the league that “partners” with state lotteries to separate hardworking citizens from their cash via NFL-themed scratch-off games. The Eagles announced their deal with New Jersey on Sunday – significant, because the weekend is usually a good time to slip potentially controversial news past people.
Remember the league that spent decades forcing season-ticket holders to purchase two “preseason” (never, ever “exhibition”) games, at full price, as part of their package? It is now the league that cites concern about its fans when pitching the elimination of two preseason games in exchange for two more regular-season games.
OK, so you already knew NFL owners were breathtakingly greedy. So what’s the point? Well, the point is that the league is relying on our short memories and outright ignorance as it runs these latest scams. Maybe we can’t stop the current outrages, but calling the NFL out just might deter it from the next money-grubbing idea. Let this stuff slide without comment and eventually you’ll have to pay a toll to get past Lincoln Financial Field on I-95.
The announcement about the new Eagles-themed lottery game in New Jersey stressed that revenues will benefit “schoolchildren, college students, and our state’s veterans.” That’s clever, because it makes it seem being against such an endeavor means being against education and honorable treatment of our most deserving citizens. But the Eagles are involved in order to make some money for the Eagles.
(Why New Jersey and not Pennsylvania? Maybe Gus, the Second Most Famous Groundhog in Pennsylvania, is represented by Drew Rosenhaus. Next question.)
Plenty of NFL teams are doing this now. It is a new way to suck a few dollars out of a struggling economy. Better still, such revenues are not shared equally among all the teams, like TV and merchandise money. They go right into the bank.
It would just be another example of common greed if not for the galling hypocrisy. In Delaware, where the league would not get a slice of the profits, gambling was a blight on our society that led decent folk down the path toward moral ruin. Drive over the Commodore Barry Bridge and gambling is not only fun but virtuous. Buying an Eagles scratch ticket is practically your civic duty.
Give NFL commissioner Roger Goodell his due here. You think it’s easy to hold two such contradictory ideas in your head without having it explode? It takes years of training.
Goodell is also the point man on the expansion from a 16- to an 18-game regular season. Following his lead, Jeff Lurie and other owners are talking up the benefit to the fans. After perpetrating consumer fraud by forcing these pretend games on their best customers all these years, the league suddenly cares deeply about them. Either that, or there’s more money to be made.
The timing of this remarkable kindness is no accident. The owners voted last year to reopen their collective bargaining agreement with the players, setting up the very real possibility of a strike or lockout in 2011. For a year, the owners grumbled that they needed to cut the players’ percentage of revenues. Now, lo and behold, the owners are leaning on the players to extend the season by two revenue-enhancing games.
As sleazy as it is to trumpet the “benefit” to fans, the real deception here is worse. The league is planning to extend the season, and by definition the wear and tear on players, as we are beginning to understand the long-term effects of the sport.
Concussions. Dementia. Arthritis. Chronic pain. Shortened life expectancy. Now doctors are exploring a possible link between brain trauma and ALS.
At a time we should be asking whether it is morally defensible to stage and support such a violent sport, NFL owners are asking players to wring a few million more dollars out of the TV networks by adding two weeks of wear and tear to each season.
Think about the owners’ rationale, that they could offset the injury risk by expanding rosters and changing the injured-reserve rules. What they’re really saying is that the solution to the attrition problem is to throw more bodies on the pile. The players are just that disposable.
Here’s a guess. They’re also just that gullible. The players will resist the extended season only long enough to get more money in the next CBA. They will remain in their own state of denial about the long-term implications of the game they play. They will continue to take more money now for pain and destitution later.
After all, why worry? They can always buy an Eagles lottery ticket.
Wow…
I thought I was the only one who wrote long and boring posts… thanks Drummer ha
I too hope he doesn’t return to action too soon just for the sake of playing. We all know that this idea never bodes well for the player or for the team. Do not come back until you are 100% healthy.
You guys are killing me. I just want to drink a case of beer, watch some ball, and oggle Erin Andrews.
Well frickin put Eaglez – mmmmm Erin Andrews