Desean Jackson was released by the Eagles after disagreements with HC Chip Kelly. He later signed with division rival Washington.
The Eagles’ willingness to release 3-time Pro Bowl WR Desean Jackson was seen as a surprise by many – especially after he set a career high in receiving yards in 2013 under head coach Chip Kelly’s quick strike offense. In an interview with ESPN.com, Kelly explained that Jackson was not getting double coverages like he used to, and expressed that he was not concerned with the loss of the explosive receiver.
“I think most people played us in single high [safety] coverage and they played man across the board on anybody and no one was getting any help,” Kelly said, via ESPN.com. “Riley (Cooper) was getting man (coverage) on his side. DeSean was getting man on his side. Jason Avant was getting man in the slot. Zach Ertz, whoever our tight end was, was getting manned. Running back was getting manned. No one is going to play us in two (safeties) deep because if you play us in two deep, we can run the heck out of the ball. We had everybody as close to the line of scrimmage as possible and nobody was helping anybody. They were trying to stop the run game.”
Jackson signed with Washington a weekend after being cut by the Eagles. The two teams play each other in Philadelphia on November 17th.
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