Getty DeSean Jackson celebrates a touchdown during a 2009 regular season game versus the New York Giants. Jackson, now 34, is adjusting to the Los Angeles Rams.
DeSean Jackson was always used to being the top receiving option before his 2021 arrival to the Los Angeles Rams. From Long Beach Poly, to the University of California all the way to the three NFL franchises he played for.
But for the first time in his career, he’s no longer expected to be the main aerial weapon. Not in an offense retooling with a new quarterback in Matthew Stafford and featuring two wide receivers who caught a combined 182 passes last season.
The 34-year-old Jackson, though, sounds perfectly fine with likely being the third receiving option opposite of Cooper Kupp and Robert Woods instead of working as WR1. His reasoning? He wants to finally win a Super Bowl, even if it means relinquishing his longtime No. 1 receiver status.
Here’s what he told reporters on June 8 signifying his selfless side:
“I’m looking for that next stage. I want to win a championship, and I would definitely love to do it here in my home city. So for me, like, it don’t really come down to the stats and the statistics no more because I’ve accomplished a lot of great things in my career, but I haven’t held up that trophy. These last few years, I’m gonna give them my all to be a guy that’s not a self guy, to be about my team and really put it on the line.”
Jackson Reuniting With McVay
“D-Jax” is no stranger to the playbook and motions Sean McVay implements. After all, Jackson thrived in his system before. In fact, his last 1,000-yard season was through McVay’s play-calling.
Jackson reached 1,169 yards in 2014 with McVay as Washington’s offensive coordinator. Jackson also averaged 20.9 yards a catch in McVay’s offense that season, making it the second time in his career he averaged past the 20-yard mark. In McVay and Jackson’s final stint in D.C in 2016, the receiver managed 56 receptions and topped the century mark with 1,005 yards. Since then, Jackson hasn’t surpassed 774 receiving yards in a season in stops with the Philadelphia Eagles and Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Jackson obviously knows McVay, but added his head coach is always adding new wrinkles to his offense. He said of McVay’s coaching to reporters “He’s always adding twists and schemes into his offense in order to keep the defenses off guard, so I’m still diving into it and still trying to gather all the information and still learning. But it’s been a great process so far working with the new guys on the team and just having a lot of fun doing it.”
McVay believes Jackson will immediately learn the new schemes right away, telling Kevin Modesti of the L.A. Daily News “He’s always been a really smart player.”
Jackson Already Loves the Attitude of the Rams
It took just one day for the newest Rams receiver to realize the attitude of his new employer.
“First day I came here, there was honestly something different about this team,” Jackson told reporters. “The camaraderie, the mentality, you can tell it’s something special.”
He’ll have to continue developing the chemistry with Stafford, plus work alongside the 90-catch duo of Kupp and Woods. Furthermore, he’s in the WR room with a rookie who studied Jackson’s career and has received comparisons to the three-time Pro Bowler: Tutu Atwell. But despite getting older and having to accept lesser targets this season, Jackson is perfectly fine with surrendering his ego by sharing this quote:
“In the NFL, there’s always other great guys. It’s not me, me, me. As you get older, you understand the Patriots of the world and Steelers. They have a system, and once you understand the system, it’s kind of interchangeable. Every guy can be the next man up.”