The Eagles face the Buccaneers in Week Six and one matchup to watch will be the one between Eagles wide receiver DeSean Jackson and Buccaneers cornerback Darrelle Revis.
We will have to wait until Sunday to see how things play out on the field, but Jackson got the ball rolling in the off-field war of words on Tuesday. Jackson praised Revis as one of the best corners in the league and a “great player,” but also pointed out that those platitudes don’t make him any less confident that he’ll be able to run away from captivity on Revis Island when the time comes to do so.
“I’m sure [Revis] will follow me around,” Jackson said, via Phil Sheridan of ESPN.com. “He followed me around when he was with the New York Jets two years ago. I’m sure his coaches are confident in him. But I don’t think he can run with me. I don’t think he’s as fast as me.”
Jackson said he plans to “put my speed on him and stress on him as I can” on Sunday. Making plays on offense obviously isn’t as simple as being faster than the guy across from you, especially if Revis is able to disrupt Jackson from getting into his routes. The Chiefs and Broncos were each able to accomplish that and the Eagles offense had trouble generating much of anything with Jackson thrown off his game.
With the other Eagles wideouts generating very little, Jackson’s ability to win his individual battle with Revis will likely go a long way toward determining the winner of the game.