Jamaal Jackson Ready And Willing For Return To Eagles
By Spike Eskin
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) – There is no shortage of problems to address with the 2012 Philadelphia Eagles. Andy Reid addressed the defense when he fired Juan Castillo, and elevated Todd Bowles to defensive coordinator. Fixing the offensive line may not have such a quick fix available.
Having lost both Jason Peters and Jason Kelce to injury, the team has not found a suitable replacement for either, and it shows. Michael Vick has taken a ton of hits (even more than normal) and LeSean McCoy's got nowhere to run.
"Being a veteran it takes a little bit of time to get in game shape, but yeah, I think I got 14 games in me," former Eagles center Jamaal Jackson told 94WIP's Michael Barkann and Ike Reese on Friday. 14 games meaning the 10 left in the regular season, three playoff games, and the Super Bowl.
The 32 year-old Jackson was the Eagles starting center from 2005 until 2010, and is not currently with an NFL team; that's not by choice.
"It's been sort of a roller coaster process. I went down and had a workout with the Giants, little mini-camp deal. Had a workout with the Cowboys, and unfortunately, it didn't work out," Jackson said. "But, you know, back to the drawing board and right now just working out, trying to stay in shape, and see where opportunities lie for me."
Jackson tore his ACL at the end of the 2009 season, but was able to return for training camp at the start of training camp in 2010. He began the 2010 season, once again as the Eagles starting center, but tore his triceps in the opening game, and missed the rest of the regular season. Jackson lost his starting spot to Jason Kelce during training camp in 2011.
"We had our shaky, shaky start," Jackson said about Eagles offensive line coach Howard Mudd. "I've had that when Juan first put me in there. I just arguing blitz pickups and strategies, and so on and so forth. Because when you are relaying it to a coach, you gotta like, relay it to them how you see it on the field, not how they drew it up, because it could change. We had our problems early on, but right now ... I wouldn't say we're best friends but I would speak to him on the phone."
"I love those guys over there [the Eagles], and like I said, I want to see them actually turn this thing around and make it far in the playoffs, if not go to the Super Bowl. So, I'm behind them"
