DeSean Jackson talks biggest lesson from the offseason

Wide receiver DeSean Jackson is ready to go for the Eagles’ season opener on Sunday, and is eager to get back on the field after missing most of 2019. He spoke to the media on Wednesday and covered topics ranging from his anti-Semitic social media post, to how the team’s rookie receivers are looking.

He also talked about how important Marty Mornhinweg and Andy Reid were in creating the type of receiver he’s become, remembering that they would sit around and try and find ways to get the WR the ball downfield. Jackson said the Eagles are really fortunate to have a guy like Mornhinweg in the building.

Here’s what Jackson had to say:

After his social media post quoting Hitler, he’s been educating himself and trying to man up to his actions and learn from it. Over the past few months, Jackson said he had to reflect, and people make mistakes, but he owns up to it. He said that he’s taking the right steps and learning about subjects he didn’t know too much about.

He said the biggest thing he’s learned since is that he has to be careful what he puts out on social media and how he chooses to use his platforms.

Jackson noted that they things he’s done since the incident has been reported on, and he’s used the time to be enlightened on subjects. He didn’t want this to distract from the issues affecting his community and the community he was raised in, and he wanted to keep the focus on those important topics.

The receiver did, however, say that it isn’t hard to focus on both societal issues because one is not more important than the other.

On his motivation this season

Jackson said it was an intriguing situation for him to have to sit back last season and not be able to battle with his teammates. He said the young guys have shown nothing but a fierce competitive nature, they work hard, and aren’t shy to ask questions.

“The biggest thing I can tell these young guys to do, is to just go out there and earn whatever it is you want.”

He’s looking forward to Sunday to getting back on the field.

The wide receiver said that he’s feeling great, and it’s been a long offseason for him — having surgery back in November 2019. He tried to rehab initially in September because he had never undergone surgery before, but looking back, he said he would have done things differently.

The first few months were tough for him as he was trying to get back in case the Eagles made it to the second round of the playoffs. But when they didn’t, he had some extra time to rehab and just tried to refocus. Now, he’s taking extra time to stretch and keep his body healthy. Jackson also is now into yoga and pays more attention to his diet.

“To be able to stay healthy, you have to take care of your body.”

Jackson said he has a good plan in place now, and he and all the coaches and medical staff are all on the same page with his workload so that he can be playing late in the season.

On Jalen Reagor

“Jalen is an interesting cat.”

Jackson said that nothing is too big for the rookie, and he’s come in with a lot of confidence and earned his respect. He’s got heart and confidence and the rest can be figured out later, but Jackson sees a lot of upside with Reagor.