Jackson, Maclin held to worst day ever in loss

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Whoever the quarterback was, whatever the defense was doing, whatever else was going on, the Eagles always at least had DeSean Jackson and Jeremy Maclin.

On Sunday, they didn’t even have that.

Jackson and Maclin, the Eagles’ starting high-flying wide receivers since 2009, combined for just five receiving yards Sunday in the Eagles’ 31-6 thrashing at the hands of the Redskins at FedEx Field in Landover, Md.

Five yards. Fifteen feet. One hundred and eighty inches.

First-time NFL starter Nick Foles targetted Jackson nine times but connected with him only twice – an eight-yard completion and another for minus-three yards. He targetted Maclin three times, and didn’t complete a single pass to the former first-round pick.

“You know, just wasn’t able to get it to them,” Foles said. “I don’t know. I just wasn’t able to get the ball to them today.

“Those guys are playmakers, you’ve got to be able to get them the ball. They do a lot of great things for us, and they were running hard all day, so as a quarterback I have to figure out [how] when I get my chances, to get them the ball.”

Jackson’s five yards are his fewest in a game since Oct. 11, 2009, when he had one catch for one yard in a 33-14 win over the Buccaneers. The last time Maclin was held without a catch was his first NFL game, opening day 2009 at Carolina, a game he didn’t start.

This is the worst combined performance ever by Maclin and Jackson. Their previous low was 34 yards (1-for-15 Maclin, 3-for-19 Jackson) on Oct. 3, 2010, also against the Redskins.

Overall, the two have combined to average 128 yards per game since they’ve been together. On Sunday, they averaged 2½ yards.

“We put a lot of pressure on Foles all day and he didn’t really have a chance to sit in the pocket and go deep to DeSean or Maclin,” Redskins linebacker Lorenzo Alexander said. “It was good for us, because we were able to keep them in front of us all day.

“A team that’s built for big time plays, to prevent them from getting any was definitely a step up for us because we have been giving at least one [big play] up a game.”

Foles’ longest completion was a 25-yarder to running back LeSean McCoy. His longest to a wide out was a 23-yarder to Riley Cooper. McCoy was the Eagles’ leading receiver with 67 yards, and Cooper (61) and Damaris Johnson (21) both had more yards than either starting receiver.

Last time the Eagles’ starting receivers didn’t combine to break single digits in a game was Nov. 27, 2005, when Greg Lewis (1-for-9) and Reggie Brown (0-for-0) had nine receiving yards from quarterback Mike McMahon.

The five yards Jackson and Maclin combined for is the fewest in a game by the Eagles’ starting wide receivers since at least 1980, or the span of 514 games.

Maclin played 71 of 74 snaps Sunday, and Jackson played 70 of 74 snaps. So they averaged about 1.2 inches per play while they were on the field.

Asked about not getting the ball, Jackson didn’t offer much: "I mean that's ... hmm ... If I had an idea, that wouldn't be my choice.”

Jackson didn’t do much on the field, but he was animated on the sideline, yelling at his teammates and exhorting them to try and get something going during the Eagles’ sixth straight loss.

“It is very frustrating,” said Jackson, who is still on pace for 70 receptions for 1,110 yards. “Once again, committing the same mistakes, penalties and turnovers.

“You’ve got to kind of figure out a way to get it going. I just tried to spark something and at the same time ended up being very angry and letting people know it’s not OK to continue to keep making these mistakes.

“As professionals, we get paid to do this so I’m going to try to go out there every time and just make any big plays or be in a spot I need to be in at any given time, for the quarterback or the team.”

The Eagles, now 3-7, try to end their longest losing streak in 18 years on Monday night against the Panthers, whose defense is run by Sean McDermott, who was fired after the 2010 season and replaced by Juan Castillo.

The Eagles have already lost more games than they did in 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2006, 2008, 2009 and 2010.

“I’m in my fifth year and our record is 3-7 and I’ve never witnessed that in my life,” Jackson said.

“It’s something that inside everybody’s going to have to fix. Everybody’s probably against us, which we already expect and know, but everybody in this locker room is who we go to fight with.

“We’ve got to go to practice, we’ve got to play games and things like that, so as long as we continue to go out there and just keep doing what we need to do and not quit, that’s all you can do.”

E-mail Reuben Frank at rfrank@comcastsportsnet.com