What Was It That Happened To Set Andy Reid Off?

During the warm up session before each NFL game, the punt returners catch quite a few punts to get an idea of what it’s going to be like to catch the ball in that particular stadium on that particular day.

They get the chance to see how the wind is affecting the ball.  They’re able to see if the sun is affecting their vision when the ball is at its highest point in the sky and as it falls.

Yesterday, Eagles top punt returner DeSean Jackson told one of the coaches that it was too cold in Chicago to catch punts before the game.  He ran some routes and caught some passes but went back in the locker room without catching any punts.

As you would expect, this didn’t sit well with Andy Reid when he learned about it.

I know you’ve heard about how Reid went off after the game by now.  I was told that Reid was angered to the point that he was beet-red and trembling.  I was told that he went on a tirade after the locker room doors were closed and said something like, “if you’re going to act like bitches, then I will treat you like bitches”.  That doesn’t sound like a happy Andy Reid.

Jackson was mentioned during Reid’s tirade because the wide receiver wasn’t looking at the big man when he was talking. On top of that, Reid heard about Jackson cutting corners before the game.  Reid doesn’t believe in cutting corners.  He is a stickler for detailed preparation.

I can understand Reid being angry because anybody who has been around the game for a long time knows that this young team was being patted on the back too much.  They were being told that they were great by too many people.  The superlatives and adulation was coming from everywhere and it was coming constantly.

As a kid, my parents would tell us in that good old country talk that we were “getting too big for our britches”.  That Eagles team which showed up in Chicago on Sunday was starting to “smell themselves” as my grandfather used to say.

They were getting “big-headed” and starting to cut corners.  Reid knows that cutting corners is a sign of a team that’s “getting too big for their britches”.

The Bears were ready to play.  They were being told that they were impostors and not legitimate.  The national television game got personal for the Bears during the week, while the Eagles looked at the Bears as just another victim in their way.

You could tell by the battle on the lines, which requires a lot of “want to” and effort, that Chicago had to have this game while the Eagles wanted this game.

NFL football is a week to week test.  If you do well one week, you have a day or two to celebrate then you have to forget it.  If you don’t forget it, you can almost guarantee that you won’t play as well the next week.

Preparation is the hardest part of the NFL.  It can get boring, but it must be done.  The games are the fun, but the preparation is the work.

I completely understand Reid going off, but I also understand Jackson’s attitude.  I commend him from not having one of those total blow up interviews.  I know that DeSean Jackson is pissed and I think he behavior was a message to Reid that he’s tired of being underpaid.

I don’t think it was a good thing for him to start cutting corners, by not catching punts before the game but I understand.

I’m sure that Jackson has a difficult time of keeping a good attitude nowadays.  Every time he practices or plays a game, he knows there are players on the field who have achieved absolutely nothing but are being paid much more than he’s making.

He knows that all of the guys who have accomplished as much as he has in the league, are making as much as five, six, seven or eight times as much as he’s making.  I’m sure that he’s taken some ribbing from the guys for being so drastically underpaid.

During that time he was out because of the second concussion he has suffered in the last two years, Jackson couldn’t help but realize that he’s one play from being unable to play again.  I’m sure he thought about how little security he has at this point in his career.

I’m sure , Jackson remembers all of the guys who were on the team when he was drafted a few years ago, that are no longer in the league.  He weighs about 165 pounds and knows that an injury might prevent him from ever getting a big pay day.

I’m sure he and Michael Vick have talked about it.  Vick is making $5 million dollars this year, but he’s in a unique situation where his behavior off the field has him in a position where he’s underpaid.  Vick has nobody to blame for his situation other than himself.

On the other hand, Jackson has done all the right things and kept his mouth shut, but he’s still not making any where near the kind of money he should be making. They want him to return punts, run reverses and be one of the league’s best receivers, yet they are in no rush to pay him fairly.

So far the Eagles have been unable willing to at least make a good-will gesture, by giving him a bonus like the ones they gave Donovan McNabb a couple of years ago and the one they gave Kevin Kolb this past off season.