"WHETHER DeSean Jackson practiced yesterday depends on how you define "practice." Officially, Jackson didn't work 11-on-11, so he went down on the Eagles' report to the NFL as not having practiced, even though reporters saw him run patterns (seven-on-seven) and catch Michael Vick passes from formations for more than half an hour.

Before practice, Jackson said he will play Sunday against the Giants despite the foot injury he suffered in Dallas.

"I'll be ready for Sunday," Jackson said. "Can't let my team go out there without me."

The practice situation was much harder to decipher than Jackson's message to people who have criticized his backward plunge into the Dallas end zone, which drew a 15-yard penalty. Jackson said he doesn't agree with the criticism or the call - even if one of the critics was quarterback Michael Vick, who said after the game he thought the dive was "unnecessary."

"Everybody's not going to like it," Jackson said. "I could care less about who likes it and who doesn't. I do it because it's entertainment. That's the type of business we're in, entertainment. The fans like it. Everybody else, like I say, you wanna talk bad about it, that's your opinion, I could care less. That's his own opinion. He's his own man. I'm my own man. I coulda just wished I didn't get penalized for it, to hurt my team, but as far as me doing my celebrations, doing my entertainment, that's going to be me and I'll still do that."

Jackson said he didn't think he should have been penalized, since players routinely perform forward dives into the end zone without drawing flags.

Jackson was asked if it is hard to put his desire for a new contract aside during the season.

"Not necessarily," he said. "I know what I'm worth . . . it's not going to get in the way of anything. At times, things get in the way, but as a professional, you have to put that aside and just go out there and play football. That's what I'm going to do. But at the end of the day I'm just going to be myself and I'm not going to change for no one."

On "The T.Ocho Show," Jackson vowed to "set the bar high" with a new deal, to help show cohost Terrell Owens as he becomes a free agent. Asked yesterday if he is a top-five-in-the-league receiver, Jackson said he doesn't think about such things."