DeSean Jackson isn't making any lofty individual predictions this year. Rather, the third-year wide receiver who became the first player in league history to be named a Pro Bowler at two different positions is focused on team success and his role as a leader for a young team with a bright future.

"I'm not (making predictions) this year," Jackson said in the locker room following Wednesday's practice. "I could care less about that. I'm here to win games and to be a team player and to do everything I can to encourage my guys and for us to go out there and be successful. Win games, that's all I care about."

Quarterback Kevin Kolb, 26, said that Jackson's growing role as a leader for this young offense is under-reported.

"The guy's a leader. He really is," Kolb said. "

The connection between Kolb and Jackson was evident last week against the Cincinnati Bengals, when Kolb found Jackson down the sideline on a broken play. Kolb was flushed right from the pocket and locked eyes with Jackson, who darted up the sideline to break free from coverage. Kolb then hit Jackson in stride for a sizeable gain.

"I think that we work on a lot of that stuff off the field, after practice," Kolb said. "We work on scramble drills. We work on broken plays. It's maybe 25-30 percent of playing football. And, of course, when you get him in space, one-on-one with somebody else, you want to do that as much as possible. It's something we'll continue to work on and get a lot better at."

As for Jackson's supposed break from talking to the media, Jackson simply said it's a case of having bigger fish to fry.

I don't think everybody sees that. He's a winner. Every single day he brings his best. He picks up other guys around him. I'm not sure everybody gives him credit for that, but he deserves it. He's a strong guy and he's a team player first."

"I'm just here to play football," said the 24-year-old star receiver. "All the other stuff I could care less about. I have a job to do ... I'm here to do whatever and to play football and win games."

And Jackson expects a lot of wins this season, as he's seen a vast improvement from the beginning of the off-season up until this point.

"I think we've come a long way so far," he said. "I think we're at a good point right now and we need to just keep pushing through. This last game will say a lot about us."

-- Posted by Bo Wulf, 2:28 p.m., August 25