"If DeSean Jackson really wants a massive new contract, this kind of behavior sure won't help him.

Jackson, the Eagles' electrifying two-time Pro Bowl wide receiver, was inactive for the Eagles' game against the Cardinals Sunday at the Linc after head coach Andy Reid suspended him for the game because he missed a mandatory team meeting Saturday morning.

Jackson did not show up for the team's 8 a.m. special teams meeting at the NovaCare Complex, and Reid sent him home for the weekend. He was not at the Linc Sunday, when the Eagles lost for the sixth time in their last eight games, 21-17 to the Cards (see story).

"I thought it was the right thing to do," Reid said. "He needs to step back and make sure that it doesn't happen again."

Jackson, who held out for the first week of training camp to protest his fourth-year minimum-wage $600,000 deal, has not played well the last few weeks. He had just eight catches for 93 yards and no touchdowns in his last three games.

But without him Sunday, the Eagles' offense was in disarray. Michael Vick threw for just 128 yards with two interceptions, and the remaining Eagles' receivers had just eight catches for 55 yards.

"Sometimes you have situations where you have to just live and learn from these types of experiences," said Vick, Jackson's closest friend on the team. "Regardless of the consequences of what happened or the decisions that were made, you know we all have to live with them ... and figure out ways to make it right. I think DeSean will do that.

"Coach has always been a no-nonsense guy since I've been here. If it was anybody else other than DeSean, it would have been the same punishment. It was not because it was just him. There's certain things that are tolerated and certain things that are not. It's just a situation where coach had to make a decision and I think DeSean respected it, and there weren't any hard feelings, and that's the end. I think he'll learn from it and move on.""