Twenty-nine-year-old center Jamaal Jackson found himself in an interesting position when he was in the Eagles' offensive huddle last Sunday in the 34-14 win over the Kansas City Chiefs - for the first time in his career, he was the oldest player on the offense.
"The second-youngest player on the offense was like 26," Jackson said after the game. "I'm 29, I felt like the stone ages or something.
"But that's just the position I take. Personally, I feel like I'm a leader on this team and on this offense. Whatever I need to do to get these guys going, I'm going to do it. I try to lead by example as much as possible and try to be a professional."
Jackson is indeed the consummate professional, having started at center for the Eagles for 58 consecutive games and counting. But he doesn't just lead by example, especially when he's the elder among the offensive unit.
In the Chiefs game, Jackson was constantly in the ear of rookie running back LeSean McCoy.
"We have to keep stressing to (McCoy) ball security," Jackson said. "I'm always on him. That's just what I do as far as the leadership goes. Even in between the runs, I'm like, ball security, ball security, and I think with time he'll learn and he'll get it corrected."
Jackson said McCoy was impressive in doing the little things.
"(McCoy) did a good job of blitz pickup," Jackson said. "Because they blitzed him a couple times, and he did a very good job.
"That's one of the things that makes Brian Westbrook so important in this offense, because he doesn't look like an overpowering blocker but he really can block. So LeSean did a really good job with that today."
Jackson was also on the case of DeSean Jackson following the receiver's flipping, sliding, end-zone celebration.
"There's a time and a place," Jamaal Jackson said of the celebration. "Right then and there, it was the second quarter, third quarter, so I was talking to him after he did it.
"I think that's just the competitive guy in him. The (Chiefs') defense, they had a lot to say, so (DeSean) was just trying to quiet those guys ... He'll learn, but this is only his second year so he has a whole lot to learn. I don't think he'll be dong flips any more."
Jackson also critiques the performance of the offensive line.
"I think it's a work in progress still," he said. "We're still not where we want to be, but we're making strides in that direction.
"I just hope we can keep this thing rolling, keep the quarterback clean. There were a lot of plays out there where there was just five-man protections (that we did well with), and we knew it was going to be like that."
-- Posted by Bo Wulf, 11:03 a.m., October 1
