Redskins' Jackson says he missed OTAs to spend time with family
Washington Redskins wide receiver DeSean Jackson said his absence from many of his team's offseason workouts is because of family obligations and a reluctance to fly across the country.
Jackson finally offered his side of the story in an interview for the Redskins' official website posted Thursday.
"You know, my home is so far from here, East Coast-West Coast, so that flight is a little hectic," Jackson said. "But I’ve really just been spending time with my mother. You know, she had a birthday coming up. I had a grandma spending a lot of time out there because she’s been sick a little bit, so she’s been staying with my mom and kind of back and forth to my uncle’s. So just really being able to enjoy that and enjoy being a dad."
Jackson hasn't showed up to work on any day where a member of the independent media had the chance to ask him to explain his absences, which resulted in him forfeiting a $500,000 bonus.
"Even though I haven’t really been here that much, I’ve dedicated the time,” Jackson said. "And you hear the reports, people saying I forfeited the workout bonus. Don’t get it wrong, it’s definitely something I would have loved to do, but spending that time with my family and doing things on that side of the world definitely pays off too."
Jackson insisted he's staying in shape despite missing practices with his teammates.
"The time’s been used just spending family time, taking a couple vacations and working out at the same time. I’m a big firm believer that you get your results from working out, so I’ve been doing a lot of training and speed work and beach work, lifting weights. Gained a couple pounds, not too much. Still got the speed though."
The diminutive Jackson missed seven games last season due to injury. He said he's working hard to get more physical and "to be able to keep the durability up during the year and not take a couple hits and go out of the game; to stay in there and block a couple bigger guys and things like that."