Redskins vs. Eagles Preview (Week 16) | NFL
PHILADELPHIA --When the Eagles released wide receiver DeSean Jacksonfollowing the 2013 season, it began a thorough housecleaning by head coach Chip Kelly.
One of the first initiatives undertaken by Kelly when he was hired as the Eagles" head coach was to rearrange the team"s locker room. No longer would the stalls of players from the same position group be located in the same vicinity as one another.
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Under Kelly"s new layout, Eagles inside linebacker DeMeco Ryans wound up having his locker alongside Jackson"s during the head coach"s first NFL season.
Coincidentally, Ryans is one of just 17 players on the current roster who were teammates with Jackson.
In a weekly series called Eagles 4 DownsNJ Advance Media sits down with an Eagles player to discuss a key aspect of the upcoming game. This week, Ryans opens up about facing the dynamic wide receiver with the team"s playoff hopesat stake Saturday night at Lincoln Financial Field:
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FIRST DOWN:Given that you are one of the last players on this roster that were around at the same time DeSean Jackson was here, what was it like having him as a teammate?
DeMeco Ryans:"I think he was a good teammate and cool guy to be around. His locker was actually right next to mine. He was a great player. The one thing about him is he demands a lot of attention when he"s out there on the field."
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SECOND DOWN:The last time you played Washington, he was injured and wasn"t out there on the field. As far as your preparation goes and your mentality leading up to the game, how much different do those things need to be this time around?
DeMeco Ryans:"The amount of attention you have to give him when he"s on the field is the biggest thing. He does a good job going deep. He"s not just a deep threat, he"s a big-time deep threat in this league. He"s been doing it for a long time. From that standpoint when he"s out there you have to have guys on him. They have to be ready to cover the vertical passing game because that"s what he does really well."
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THIRD DOWN:He obviously took a lot of pride in ending your guys" season last year in Week 16. This time around the situation is pretty much identical. If they beat you, the season"s over and if you guys win it sets you up pretty nicely to play for the division title in Week 17. How much is that on your mind as far as a revenge factor goes?
DeMeco Ryans:"For me ... We have to come out and show them that we want it badder than they do. That"s the kind of game it"s going to be. It"s a playoff type feel around here already. We have to win to stay in it. For us, the playoffs start this week. I know that sounds cliche, but that"s just the way it is. If we win we live to play next week and keep rolling. Both teams have a lot on the line. I expect it to be a very tough game from both sides."
FOURTH DOWN:You"re obviously one of the more vocal and respected leaders on this team and you have a good sense of the mood and mentality of this group. Obviously Sunday didn"t go the way you wanted it to, but how do you bounce back from that during a short week?
DeMeco Ryans:"It"s obviously a big disappointment from Sunday. The thing about it is we can"t allow that to linger. We can"t allow it to impact us going into this week. What happened against Arizona, they"re a great team and they got us. We did"t play well. Going into this Saturday it"s all about whether or not you want it bad enough. If you want it, you"ll step up and bring your "A" game. It"s as simple as that. There"s nothing that needs to be said, or any speeches, or anything like that. Nobody really needs to remind the guys what we"re playing for. Everybody knows what"s on the table. If we want it bad enough, we"ll step up and play our "A" game, for sure."
Matt Lombardo may be reached at MDLombardo@yahoo.com. Follow him on Twitter@MattLombardo975.Find NJ.com Eagles on Facebook
Source: http://www.nj.com/eagles/index.ssf/2015/12/eagles_4_downs_demeco_ryans_on_facing_former_locke.html
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