Philadelphia Eagles wideout DeSean Jackson had some pointed comments when asked Thursday how he deals with the weekly scrutiny stemming from his failed contract holdout during the offseason.
Management refused to restructure Jackson's rookie contact, which pays him $600,000 this year, and some in the Philadelphia media wondered if his recent lack of production, four catches for 51 yards in his last two games, was evidence of lingering frustrations from the summer negotiations.
Jackson, to his credit, refused to take the bait Thursday, but he did offer an interesting take on where his focus lies this season.
"Whether I have the ball in my hands or not, I feel like I already established myself in this league as one of the great receivers," said Jackson, via Philadelphia Sports Daily. "I just gotta go out there and keep doing what I can do. Stay healthy is the biggest thing. As long as I can stay healthy, regardless of where I'm playing, I think I'll be alright. Just stay healthy and go out there and do my thing."
Jackson took out an insurance policy before the season to protect himself against injury, but he certainly would stand to make more money next year if he can avoid any major incident in 2011.
"That's the No. 1 priority is to stay healthy," said Jackson. "I wouldn't be able to play the game if I wasn't healthy. In my book, that's the No. 1 priority. Winning is next in that category. As long as I'm healthy and we're winning, regardless of my numbers, I think I'll be very happy."
