The Philadelphia Eagles are on bye in Week 4 so we won’t be seeing any action from Jeremy Maclin. The Eagles desperately needed this bye week early. They have a few banged up players like Donovan McNabb and Brian Westbrook. It will also give them time to work on the playbook and study their next opponent.

Because I don’t have any stats or critique to bring you this week, I have a quick video of Maclin talking about his first NFL game.

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Jeremy Maclin and the Philadelphia Eagles played their 3rd preseason game last Thursday against the Jacksonville Jaguars. Most of the attention was on Michael Vick, who played in his first game back in the NFL. However, Vick isn’t the only one the fans wanted to see. Everyone has their eyes on this year’s first round draft pick Jeremy Maclin.

Maclin showed something against the Jags. He didn’t find the endzone, but he did grab 4 receptions for 53 yards… and best of all didn’t fumble the ball! Maclin had fumbled once in each of the first two preseason games.

With Kevin Curtis and DeSean Jackson in the mix, I’m not sure if Maclin will get a starting job this season, but he should get plenty of touches, inlcluding punt and kickoff duty. Against the Jags he had one kickoff return for 17 yards and a punt return for -1 yards. Nothing great, but he’s getting reps.

Last week, after missing 12 practices of training camp, the Philadelphia Phillies reached a deal with their first-round draft pick Jeremy Maclin. It’s reported that Maclin signed a five-year deal that could be worth as much as $15.5 million, including $9.5 million in guaranteed money. That’s a great deal that both sides should be happy with, and the holdout didn’t last so long that he disgruntled fans and teammates. There are still 5 or so players left unsigned, including Michael Crabtree.

Eagles quarterback Donovan McNabb said after practice Monday that the 21-year-old Maclin’s absence through the first nine days of camp was no big deal.

“He’s a rookie,” McNabb said. “You all act like he’s been in the league for five or six years. You don’t know what he’s going to do anyway. All we ask of him is to catch the ball and get up field and score. That’s all we ask. I think for him, at this point, it’s a business aspect of things that we’ve all been through. It’s not like he’s the only one who’s holding out. He’ll be here. We’ll be able to get some work and be able to see what we can get out of him this year.”

We’ll be keeping an eye on Maclin during camp and bring you and pictures and videos that come up. The Eagles have their first preseason game on Thursday and you can bet Maclin will see some action.

The Jeremy Maclin contract holdout has officially reached it’s fourth day. Maclin is not alone though … I think only 4 first round picks are signed right now. The Eagles desperately need Maclin on the practice field. You know they have big things planned for him and he needs to work in some timing with Donovan McNabb.

Eagles fans were super excited to draft Maclin, but they can quickly turn on a player if he doesn’t perform. Things like contract holdouts don’t sit well with Eagles fans.

Here are a few things being said about him on Twitter.

@MilleronEagles: OK Jeremy Maclin. Get your ass to camp. It won’t take long for you to turn into the next Freddie Mitchell.

@brianseltzer: And Jeremy Maclin’s contract holdout is in its fourth day. The rookie WR absent again, now missing all of rookie/selected vets portion …

@SeanMetts: Jeremy Maclin…dude..just get your face to training camp. Eagles..stop being cheap..your in the top 5 in salary cap..STILL! Just sign him.

There were reports going around this weekend that Philadelphia Eagles first round draft pick Jeremy Maclin had inked a six-year deal worth $23 million. Those rumors were quickly squashed. First of all, I don’t believe he would sign a six-year deal… five seems more like it. Second of all, $23 million is way too much for the 19th pick in the draft. In the 2008 NFL Draft, $23 million went to the 9th pick..

It’s nice to hear some contract talks going around, but with only 2 first round picks signed so far (Stafford and Sanchez) it could be into August before something is confirmed with Maclin. I hope he doesn’t hold out, but it is always a possibility.

The Missouri Tigers are a week away from their December 29th Alamo Bowl game against Northwestern. One of the big questions that still looms over the head of Jeremy Maclin and all the Tiger fans is: Will Maclin go pro?

He’s said before he won’t make a decision until after the bowl game, but Jeremy did submit his paperwork to the NFL Draft Advisory board asking their opinion on his draft potential. Most underclassmen do this though…

The upside for going pro… big time money.

And the upside for returning to Missouri for another season?

“Who’s been a three-time All-American? And I still haven’t won a Big 12 championship,” said Maclin, who earned All-America honors the last two years. “Yes, we’re losing Daniel and Coffman, which is a huge part of our offense, but we still have playmakers around. … Big-time names are leaving, but I think we’ve got guys who can step in. They may not be ready right now, but after spring ball and through the summer and starting next season, I think they’ll be ready to play.”

Peter Fleischer from the Bleacher Report wrote an article titled “Falsely Accused! Jeremy Maclin is NOT having a down year“. If you’ve been following this fan site since the start of college football this year, you may have picked up on a few notes here and there that sounded like I was syaing he is having a down year. While Maclin may have had a few down games, he is not having a down year.

With two games left, Jeremy Maclin sits at 71 receptions for 949 yards and 9 touchdowns. In 2007, he had 80 receptions for 1055 yards and 9 touchdowns. So he’s all but guaranteed to surpass last year’s receiving stats.

Now on to rushing… this year he has 27 rushes for 190 yards and 2 touchdowns. In 2007, he had 51 rushes for 375 yards and 4 touchdowns. So his rushing numbers are down a bit, but they still look good for someone who isn’t a running back.

Now on to returning… I hope you didn’t forget Jeremy Maclin returns punts and kicks. His kick return numbers are down some this year, but that’s only because they don’t run him out on every return now. But he still has 26 kick returns for 658 yards and a touchdown (99 yards).

So I agree with the bleacher report article. Jeremy Maclin is not having a down year. In fact, he’s improved his stock and will be a 1st round drfat pick in 2009.

For those of you interested in seeing Jeremy Maclin’s chat with ESPN the other day, please visit this link. For those of you being lazy, or maybe just too amped up about the Nebraska game this week, here are some excerpts:

Sean L Saint Louis, MO: I am pretty certain Mizzou could beat the Rams…..your thoughts?

Jeremy Maclin: Ha! I cannot comment on that!

Ruvin (Philadelphia): Care to weigh in on the conference debate? Who rules – the SEC or the Big 12?

Jeremy Maclin: Obviously I’m biased. I see the competition week in and week out. They’re definitely the two premier conferences out there.

Please check back tomorrow for my Nebraska preview.

Defensive backs better check themselves when they’re guarding Jeremy Maclin. Not only can he burn them 1 on 1 for the deep ball, but he’ll use his physical strength to knockem’ down in press coverage.

You don’t want to mess with him.

Last week versus Illinois, Missouri star WR tweaked his ankle. There were some doubts whether or not he would play this week in their home opener against Southeast Missouri State. “I want to play,” Maclin said. “Nobody wants to sit out. I think I’ll be ready to play at 100 percent, if not really close.”

Southeast Missouri State is a midlevel team at best. The Tigers would pound them with or without Jeremy. But it’s the home opener and there is a lot of excitement from the fans about this #6 ranked team. An MRI exam revealed a slightly strained tendon, and coach Gary Pinkel said Maclin was probable for this week.

It’s just a day before the game, and I still can’t find any official news yet on whether or not he’ll play. It may end up being a game time decision. I’ll go ahead and give my stat prediction in case he does play. I think he’ll have 80 yards receiving and 1 touchdown, plus a couple of kick/punt returns for another 100 yards.

What do you think?