:format(webp)/cdn.vox-cdn.com/photo_images/1582398/GYI0062865164.jpg)
I just happened to catch this little segment while getting ready for work this morning, in which Jamie Dukes and Warren Sapp were discussing where Plaxico Burress could land this offseason, and figured I'd share. Dukes likes the idea of Plax in Philly, but not for something that might be considered any kind of sensible reasoning, such as "Plax would give the Eagles with another offensive weapon that could add a tall, angular target in the red zone, something that is debatably not currently on the Eagles roster." Instead, Dukes is under the impression that the Eagles WRs are choke artists:
First, I love how Dukes says "If you go back and watch the games," which he clearly did not do. Jeremy Maclin, in two career playoffs games, caught 10 passes for 219 yards, and a TD. In the Dallas playoff loss Dukes refers to, Maclin was pretty much the ONLY Eagles player on either side of the ball that showed up for that game. And he was, as Dukes puts it, "Nowhere to be seen?" It's 100% unfair to throw any sort of criticism whatsoever Maclin's way for coming up small in big games.
In fairness, Jackson is a different story, and is certainly fair game to criticize for less than stellar playoff performances the last two seasons. He only caught 2 passes for 47 yards against GB this past season, and 3 passes for 14 yards and a meaningless garbage time TD against Dallas two seasons ago. That's definitely not what you want from your star WR. But let's not forget 2008, when he caught 6 passes for 92 yards and the late go-ahead score as a rookie against Arizona in the NFC Championship Game.
Whether the Eagles sign Plax or not, it won't be because the Eagles think DeSean Jackson and Jeremy Maclin are the LeBron James of football. You're on NFL Network, Dukes. Act like it. Don't pretend that you just left the film room before walking onto to the set, and then make a totally ridiculous point that shows you have no clue what you're talking about.