The Eagles young wide receivers, DeSean Jackson and Jeremy Maclin will learn to not comment about things that one of their teammates said until they first go and talk to their teammate.
The football team and the young Eagles got through it yesterday but they’re going to get themselves in trouble if they continue letting guys in the media who could care less about the football team, get in between them and their teammates.
You go directly to your teammates first, before responding to something a media guy who is trying to make a name for himself asks you about something one of your teammates said.
That’s the way people who are the best of friends let people get in between them. You go directly to the source first and talk to them.
When Brian Westbrook was asked about Donovan McNabb’s comments about “the team showing their youth,” he said he didn’t hear what Donovan said. Then he emphasized his relationship with McNabb and said he knows he wouldn’t throw his teammates under the bus.
Maclin was reluctant to respond but went ahead and commented about Donovan saying, “He’s an honest man,” Maclin said. “He’ll [take responsibility]. I’ll take responsibility for the way I played. Everybody’s going to take responsibility for their own selves. That’s what makes us all men, right?”
Jackson who has a radio show on Monday nights reacted to the comments before first talking to McNabb and that’s a mistake. Here’s what he said after listening to an audio replay of McNabb’s comments, “If you played that [sound bite] through the locker room, that’s not something nobody wants to hear.”
McNabb and Jackson got the chance to talk about it and Jackson’s tune changed.
When asked if he was upset by what McNabb said and Jackson responded, “Not necessarily, he made a comment, whatever his comment was about, I didn’t hear the question that he was asked. But we talked, and you know, it’s nothing big. We just have to keep it in-house and stick together as a team and don’t let things like that break us up. We talked about it, cleared it up, and it’s all right.”
He should have done that first because the guy that asked him the question might be rooting for them to lose on Saturday. That guy in the media might be talking about Jackson like a dog behind his back, but butters up to him when they get on the show.
I see this all the time with the guys in the media. I hear a guy dogging a player when the player’s not around him, then when he gets around him, he’s smiling and acting the like the guy’s the greatest.
The same media guys who Jackson thinks are his friends will be the same guys who will be shredding him in a year or so. Mark my words.