The Redskins are one of the few teams holding early official team workouts, which began today. As one of the teams with a new coach, they’re allowed to hold their Phase 1 workout program about two weeks early. No big deal. It’s not mandatory (most players, including RGIII, are there, however) and it’s basically a routine workout session where coaches can’t even be present for the on-field portion. But. But being the new guy on the team, trying to repair a rightfully or wrongfully destroyed image, it would probably be in DeSean Jaccson’s and the team’s best interest if he, you know, showed up.

DeSean Jackson will be in town this week to join the team in workouts. He is on a pre planned vacation right now. #Redskins

— Dianna Marie Russini (@NBCdianna) April 7, 2014

DeSean Jackson has reportedly not shown up at today's first day of OTAs with Washington.

— Ed Kracz (@kracze) April 7, 2014

That report would be correct, since DeSean’s Instagram (the source of everything– herr meh, DC bloggers ??) places him either on a private island or at a car show in California (but pretty sure it’s the private island): Continue Reading…

Expectedly, the DeSean Jaccson-Stephen A. Smith interview on ESPN was mostly a farce.

Here are the bullet points:

DeSean has a great PR person who dressed him nicely.

Stephen A. Smith was his typical caricature.

Stephen A. Smith screamed a lot.

Stephen A. Smith implied that the NJ.com article said DeSean was in a gang. It never said that. At all.

DeSean called the NJ.com article “disrespectful.”

DeSean said the conversation with Chip Kelly when he was released was short, over the phone. Chip said the team was going in a different direction. Faux outrage about that, never mind that DeSean was likely in California when he was released:

Wow. Couldn't even look him in the eye? RT @TarikCSN DeSean Jackson told ESPN he was released in a phone call from Chip Kelly.

— Reuben Frank (@RoobCSN) April 4, 2014

DeSean said he’s not in a gang, not affiliated with a gang, but has gang friends that he doesn’t hang around “if they’re doing negative things.”

DeSean only hangs out with gang friends when they’re having a positive influence on the community.

Stephen A. Smith never questions this assertion.

DeSean said the gang signs he uses are not gang signs but to show support for the people he grew up with, some of whom are gang members.

DeSean seemed genuinely hurt when he heard that fans thought he wasn’t a team player.

Stephen A. Smith implies that story was leaked by the Eagles to NJ.com (which is wrong). DeSean says he doesn’t believe it was.

The whole thing was a joke.

UPDATE: Here’s a chunk of the interview:

Stephen A. Smith will scream some things at us and pretend to interview Jaccpot tonight at 6 p.m. on ESPN.

Apparently, this “will clear up everything,” according to a spokesperson for DeSean. I bet.

[SING-SONG] DIS IS DESEAN DAT AIN’T NOT END. YEAAAA IT GOES ON N ON, YESSIR. SOME PPL STARTED WRITN IT NOT NOING WHAT IT WAS N THEY’LL CONTINUE WRITN IT 4EVER JUST BECAUSE DIS DESEAN DAT AINT NOT END !! [END SING-SONG]

One week ago today, the Eagles released DeSean Jaccson. Since then we’ve been waterboarded with a constant stream of whining, bloviating and HOT SPORTS TAKES from the established medIa. It is, DeSean that will not end.

Today, the NFLPA threw their hat into the ring. The local cable company reports:

The union representing National Football League players is investigating the Eagles’ release of DeSean Jackson to determine if the team first waged a smear campaign against its former Pro Bowl wideout.

DeMaurice Smith, NFLPA executive director, said Friday morning on ESPN radio show “Mike & Mike,” per ProFootballTalk, that the union is looking into the timing of Jackson’s release, which happened Friday about 40 minutes after NJ.com posted a story detailing Jackson’s associations with alleged gang members.

“We’ve been in touch with DeSean, and first and foremost he is a tremendous football player and great young man,” Smith said on the show. “On the issue of how he was released, whether or not there were comments or leaks from the team, misinformation to the media coming from the team, that’s something that we’re going to look at. We’ve always been aggressive about protecting the integrity of our players.”

Well that’s silly. Any humanoid paying attention would know that reports of the Eagles trading or releasing DeSean had been out there for weeks if not months. NJ.com’s story merely forced their hand as it essentially killed whatever trade value DeSean had left. Plus, as we’ve discussed before, the accusation that the Eagles planted this story with Eliot Shorr-Parks and A.J. Perez of NJ.com is absurd. That’s what Jeff McLane and Derrick Gunn are for.  Were the Eagles aware of the story before its release and were they perhaps OK with it? Certainly and maybe. They were contacted for comment, according to the original report. And the story may have proved – for better or worse – to be the final PR justification for releasing DeSean. But it’s pretty amazing that the alleged smear campaign focuses on the NJ.com story, which has an LAPD detective speaking on the record, and not the endless stream of unattributed reports and leaks about DeSean’s work ethic and attitude from previous weeks.

DeSean Jaccson has officially changed his Instagram name what with number 10 already being taken in Washington. First he went Jaccmoney11…

… but at some point overnight it became JaccpotOneofOne, as in there are no others. Please update your Instagram accordingly.

Side note: Wonder why he didn’t just use his name? Oh.

Side note 2: Imagine driving through the B-Hills yesterday and, wait, is that an NFL player posing in sneakers and tube socks like a tourist at the Beverly Hills sign? 

Side note 3: Don’t hold this post against me. Haven’t had coffee yet today.

Mathify!

Interesting take on the DeSean Jaccson situation from Neil Paine of FiveThirtyEight, who looked at a stat called Approximate Value and found every receiver since 1970 who went to a new team after having an AV of 10 or higher. What Paine discovered was that those receivers typically experienced a sharper decline in productivity the following season than receivers who didn’t go to a new team:

The average receiver on the above list was 28.5 years old and posted 11.5 receiving AV in the last year with his former team. The following season, these receivers averaged 7.1 receiving AV, for a decline of 4.4 AV.

As a control group, I also looked at wide receivers who had at least 10 receiving AV in a season and didn’t change teams. Their average age in the first year was 27.5, and they put up 11.8 receiving AV. The following season, they produced 9 receiving AV on average — a decline of only 2.8 AV.

There’s probably a selective sampling effect here — teams don’t tend to let these guys go for no reason — but it doesn’t matter, because Jackson fits that trend. Whatever the reason for leaving, it’s clear that good receivers who change addresses in the offseason see more of a regression than the typical pass-catcher coming off a strong season.

Basically, receivers who go to a new team after a stellar season are more likely to fall back to Earth than receivers who don’t switch teams. Whether that’s a result of a new system or because the player was moved for a specific (negative) reason isn’t known. But whatever the reason, the numbers say take the under on DeSean in Washington.

H/T to reader Kevin