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If part of the reason the Eagles cut unhappy receiver DeSean Jackson last March was so Chip Kelly could make an example out of him and show the team that he's not willing to harbor a player who could negatively affect the locker room, that bit of psychological play has worked on at least one player.
Running back LeSean McCoy gets it if that's the case.
"The whole DeSean Jackson thing, that helped out, to be honest, in making all the other guys aware," McCoy told NFL.com's Albert Breer. "It's all possible. They'll cut one of your best guys if [he's] not buying in. On any team -- any team -- you look at that, and as a player, you can look at it from so many different sides, but no matter how good you are, you gotta follow these guidelines. And if you don't, you could be gone. ... You gotta buy in."
Jackson since has signed with the Redskins, and coach Jay Gruden has stated that he didn't know about -- or see -- any red flags from Jackson. But something clearly didn't sit right with Kelly. Particularly when you realize Jackson had a career year in Kelly's system in 2013, catching 82 passes for 1,332 yards and nine touchdowns.
Jackson had talked about wanting a new contract, and he reportedly had thrown locker-room temper tantrums and had cursed out Kelly. The Eagles countered that by saying that Jackson was released solely for football reasons.
Either way, it made the rest of the Eagles locker room take notice.
"Everybody's definitely bought in -- from the football training part of it to the weight room, and all the sports science types of things," McCoy said. "Everybody's bought in."
