DeSean Jackson says he told teammates Redskins would blow halftime lead

DeSean Jackson spent three seasons playing for the Washington Redskins between 2014 and 2016. While many of the personnel have changed, the coaching staff is still largely in place, and he’d still know the culture well.

So it’s rather worrying for Washington fans to hear Jackson say he confidently told his Philadelphia Eagles teammates that the Redskins would get complacent and fail to protect their 20-7 lead.

“We came out and started off slow and struggled, but not one moment in that game I didn’t think we were going to come out and win that game. I kept stressing to the boys when we came in the locker room that I have been over there before in that locker room and I know how they are,” Jackson said, via JP Finlay of NBC Sports Washington. “I just stressed to my teammates that I felt that at halftime, they probably thought they had the game sealed and won.”

Jackson’s words would prove prophetic. The Eagles scored 25 unanswered points in the second half to win 32-27.

We’re relying on Jackson telling his own story here, but that’s a discouraging thing to hear for Washington. Jackson knows the environment, and his lack of surprise at Washington’s response to jumping out to a big lead suggests that there are issues that run deep in the organization’s culture.

The Redskins already have some in-house drama to deal with as well. It’s far from the ideal start to the season for them.