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Last year, DeSean Jackson was certainly not acting as a guy his teammates should look up to. He allowed contract concerns to dominate his season, affect his play and attitude. In the end though, he did get his new deal and is approaching this season with a new attitude. As a key player, who is now signed long term and entering his 4th year.. he's a veteran and says that his focus is now on becoming a leader.
"Being a leader, carrying the guys with me, and stepping up and being accountable. That's the biggest thing that this team needs. With myself, [QB Michael] Vick, [WR Jeremy] Maclin, [RB LeSean] McCoy, [TE Brent] Celek, as far as the offense goes, it starts there first and foremost. We have to go out there and help our defense out by going out and scoring as many points as possible. As long as we're able to do that and lead as leaders and everybody watches us and follows along, it doesn't have to be any screaming and yelling or anything, but as long as we can lead by example and we're going out there and showing the young guys what to do out there, everyone else will follow."
Lead as leaders!
DeSean says that the goal is consistency.
"Yeah, that's the biggest thing honestly. You can't just have times of playing well and times of playing terrible. We just have to try and figure out what we're doing and stick with it. That's our identity. We don't want to be a team that's known for its ups and downs. We want a team that ‘s known for being solid all around, and keeps getting better every day. As long as we keep coming out on this field every day and doing work, I think it's going to show and rub off on Sundays."