Philadelphia Eagles' DeSean Jackson now officially a holdout

FROM THE EXPRESS TIMES

There are absences, and there are absences.

The Philadelphia Eagles went through their first practice of training camp at Lehigh University on Thursday without wide receiver DeSean Jackson,wideout Jeremy Maclin, cornerback Asante Samuel, defensive end Brandon Graham and offensive tackle Winston Justice taking part.

Jackson, now officially a holdout, is the only absence without an excuse.The wide receiver is not happy with a contract that pays him only $565,000 this season (the final year of his four-year deal he signed as a rookie), far
below scale for a top-shelf wideout (47 catches for 1,056 yards and 6 touchdowns in
2010).

As a coach you want everybody here," Eagles coach Andy Reid said. "You want as many reps with your ones as you can possibly get. That would be one side of it. The second side of it is we're going to coach like crazy on the guys that are here."

Eagles general manager Howie Roseman refused to answer questions on Jackson's situation, saying "we're going to keep all the contract stuff in-house." Maclin and Samuel are missing from Lehigh for what the Eagles said in an email were "personal reasons."

"The Eagles have been and will continue to be in constant communication with both players and look forward to having both players back in camp as soon as possible," the email read.

Tight end Brent Celek said the team will be fine despite the absences.

"Yeah, I mean, DeSean, all the guys who aren't here, it's a little bit different," he said. "But we'll welcome them when they come back and while we're out here by ourselves we'll keep working. We'll get this team better for when they come back."

Graham (microfractures in knee) and Justice (recovering from arthroscopic knee surgery) were placed on the physically-unable-to-perform (PUP) list Wednesday.

Reid said there was no timetable for their return.

Getting it right for the media

The first practice open to the media came Thursday afternoon. The practice went at a brisk tempo, and there was no evidence of mass confusion or players unfamiliar with demands of the staff, despite it being the first practice since January. Celek said getting back on the field felt a little strange.

"A little bit awkward, you know, getting back out there, running routes
against a defense that you haven't seen in six months and seeing everybody move," Celek said. "So it was a little bit different, but I'm sure in the next few days that will start to slow down and it will be back to normal."

The Eagles will have morning and afternoon sessions at Lehigh today but both are closed to the public. Fans will be welcome at Saturday's 8:05 a.m. practice.

Comings and goings

The Eagles signed rookie free agent wide receiver Gerald Jones on Thursday. The 5-foot-10, 195-pound Jones amassed 142 receptions, 1,710 yards and 13 touchdowns in his four-year career at Tennessee.

The Eagles released defensive tackle Jeremy Clark, cornerback Gerard Lawson, defensive tackle Jeff Owens, wide receiver Jeremy Williams and fullback Leonard Weaver; the latter three all failed physicals.

Weaver, a Pro Bowler after the 2009 season, suffered a gruesome knee injury in the 2010 opener against Green Bay and never returned.

"To see a guy like Leonard Weaver play in the Pro Bowl one year and suffer a devastating injury in the first game of the following year is especially tough," Roseman said in a written statement.

Glad to be back

Oft-injured center Jamaal Jackson said he felt just fine to be back on the field after a nightmare 2010 that saw him go down in the opener with torn triceps and miss the whole season.

"Of course (it was tough last season), man, but last season was last season, I've forgotten about it already," Jackson said. "It felt great just getting out here and moving around with the guys, going through a little bit; didn't have any problems with my knee, arm, nothing like that. So I'm just trying to ease my way back into it."


http://www.lehighvalleylive.com/sports/index.ssf/2011/07/philadelphia_eagles_desean_jac_4.html