Birds' Jackson survives scary collision
Wide receiver DeSean Jackson had a concussion after a vicious second-quarter hit knocked him and Falcons cornerback Dunta Robinson out of the game Sunday.
Jackson left the locker room in a gray sweat suit, a hood over his head, with Eagles staffers following closely and helping with his luggage. The Eagles said he would not speak to reporters.
Jackson's collision with Robinson brought coaches and players from both benches onto the field to check on their teammates. Several players knelt in prayer as Jackson and Robinson, who delivered the hit, lay motionless.
"You kind of take a step back and think" after such a play, said wide receiver Jeremy Maclin. "I wouldn't wish that upon anybody, let alone my teammate." Both injured players walked off the field.
Quarterback Kevin Kolb, who threw the pass that led Jackson into a charging Robinson, was visibly upset immediately after the play. Robinson lowered his helmet into Jackson, drawing a 15-yard penalty for hitting a defenseless receiver in the head. It was the second play of the second quarter.
"I just felt so bad, you know, because I'm part of the play and never saw the guy," Kolb said.
Wide receiver Jason Avant said he had thought Jackson took most of the impact in his chest and would be OK.
"The other guy was hurt pretty bad. He was rolling his eyes in the back of his head. I was more scared for him than DeSean," Avant said. "It's a hard thing, but it's the game of football."
It was perhaps the most frightening of a string of concussions to hit the Eagles this year. Week 1, it was Kolb and linebacker Stewart Bradley. Week 4, it was wide receiver Riley Cooper and cornerback Asante Samuel. Defensive lineman Antonio Dixon missed a spell of training camp with a concussion. Jackson missed the rest of Sunday's game.
While concussions differ, Kolb, Bradley, and Samuel missed the next week's game when they were concussed. Cooper missed his second consecutive game Sunday. Coach Andy Reid would make no predictions about Jackson on Sunday. "We'll just have to see," he said.
After the game, Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie told USA Today that helmet-to-helmet hits should be banned.
"It's not something that should be in the game. It should be legislated out of the game," Lurie said.
Though the NFL has tried to stop such hits, more needs to be done, the owner said.
The impact of losing Jackson was evident by his first-quarter performance. Wearing a slick pair of silver cleats with pink laces in keeping with the NFL's October breast-cancer-awareness theme, Jackson blazed through the Falcons' defense. First, he took an end around 31 yards for a touchdown, doing most of the work himself, and later he caught a 34-yard touchdown pass from Kolb.
In just one quarter, Jackson had 78 yards from scrimmage - 44 rushing and 34 receiving. He had two touchdowns on three offensive touches. He also had a 4-yard punt return.
"Just let him know I had his back. I said I got him covered," Maclin said. "He walked off the field and said, 'I appreciate it.' "
Contact staff writer Jonathan Tamari
at 215-854-5214 or jtamari@phillynews.com.