Kevin Kolb, the 2007 second-round pick who was on the field for all of three plays last season, and undrafted rookie Casey Hansen from Norfolk State are the guys throwing the passes in the Eagles' current minicamp, but rookie second-round pick DeSean Jackson already has learned something.
"It's the NFL,"
Jackson said. "The quarterbacks are taking five-step drops and the ball is coming out. If you're not on time, you're getting hit in the head with the ball, so I definitely have to be ready to play."
For a guy who supposedly has a Terrell Owens starter kit somewhere in his baggage, Jackson has been quiet as he goes about the business of learning the intricacies of the Eagles' West Coast offense.
The second-round pick from California spent Wednesday and Thursday watching, listening and learning during the minicamp for rookies and selected veterans in the Eagles' South Philly practice facility.
Not even one sequence in which coach Andy Reid, offensive coordinator Marty Mornhinweg and receivers coach David Culley offered advice in a short period of time flustered Jackson.
"It's great; it's like they all want to get in there and help,"
Jackson said. "I think it's a great situation for them to teach me. They've slowed down things from the first [full-roster] minicamp and it lets you get comfortable."
"The first minicamp was kind of difficult, and I just tried to catch onto key concepts. Now, I feel comfortable about everything."
The Eagles had success in developing Todd Pinkston into a competent receiver from 2000, when he was a second-round pick, until he was injured in August 2005, and like what they've seen from 2005 second-round pick Reggie Brown. But their attempts to stock the pass-catching corps with homegrown talent have been marred by the obvious failures of 2001 first-round pick Freddie Mitchell and 2003 third-round pick Billy McMullen to become impact players.
"Just learning the offense is hard work,"
said Jackson, who as a senior caught 65 passes for 762 yards and six touchdowns. "There's a little bit [similar to Cal's offense]. But this offense is more in-depth, more detailed. A lot more checks and calls go into it. It's still the West Coast offense, and I was familiar with that from what we ran in college, but I'm doing everything I can to catch up."
If Jackson can catch on, the Eagles may have addressed two areas of need -- another big-play threat in the receiving game and a big-play threat in the return game -- when they found him still available at No. 49. That was 30 spots later than at least one mock draft had them selecting him.
At 5-10, 169 pounds, Jackson won't be the big, physical-type receiver the Eagles went after when they acquired Owens in the offseason leading up to their 2004 run to the Super Bowl. But after watching Jackson in the earlier minicamp, Mornhinweg did not sound too concerned that he would have trouble getting off the line of scrimmage, an issue that many observers believe was the reason the Eagles lost the 2003 season's NFC Championship Game to Carolina and subsequently targeted Owens.
"[Jackson] is 5-10, and he doesn't have much [weight], but you beat bump-and-run and jams in many ways,"
Mornhinweg said. "You can beat it with strength and power, or you can beat it with quickness, or you can beat it with quickness and moves. There are different ways [to get free], and he's done a pretty good job with that. You can also create formations, motions and shifts to give him a little air as well."
The rookies and selected veterans will have today and the rest of the holiday weekend off before returning to work Tuesday. The rest of the veterans are due back for more workouts in early June.
