Considering how poorly the Eagles played, that was a harsh punishment.
The Pro Bowl receiver spoke to coach Andy Reid and his teammates, and is ready to move forward after being deactivated Sunday because he missed a meeting.
"Everyone knows the situation, knows the case," Jackson said Monday. "As a professional and as a man, you just really have to handle things. I can admit to some things that I've done, that I need to better, which I think everybody at a period of time in their life figures out what it is."
Jackson didn't attend a special teams meeting Saturday morning and was told to stay home the next day. The Eagles lost to Arizona 21-17 to fall to 3-6 in a season that began with Super Bowl aspirations.
Jackson didn't deny that he purposely skipped the meeting to make a statement because he's upset about his contract situation. He's in the final year of his rookie contract and made it clear he wants a new deal when he held out 11 days in training camp.
"Everybody knows the contract situation," Jackson said. "As a human being, there are things you have to go through in life. I realize what it is. I'm just ready to just continue and just go forward. I'm not thinking about nothing else that happened. Whatever I did in the past, it's over. It's done. I know what I need to do and I'm going to make it happen."
Jackson hasn't been productive this season. He has only 29 catches for 503 yards and two touchdowns. He averaged 57 receptions, 1,041 yards and six TDs his first three seasons to go along with three TDs rushing and four on punt returns.
But Jackson's presence opens things up for others on the offense. It was obvious how much the Eagles missed him against the Cardinals. Michael Vick had his worst passing game since becoming Philadelphia's starter and the offense had a season-low 289 total yards.
"Well I think any time a team sees that you don't have one of your best players on the field, they can change their strategy and their game plan in an instant," Vick said. "They're smart professional players and good ones at that, so they were able to make adjustments and made it tough for us."
Jackson said he respected Reid's decision and doesn't have any hard feelings. Reid said the situation is behind them.
"I've always had a good relationship with DeSean," he said. "I've done this with other players so we can't forget that part. I've done this two or three times with other players where I've sat them down, so it's just one of those things that happens. And I will tell you that, myself included, nobody is bigger than the football team and so, if you're wrong in a spot, then you have consequences, too. And that's how it works."
