Eagles S Mikell credits Akers for playing despite off-field battle

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[center][b][size="3"]Eagles S Mikell credits Akers for playing despite off-field battle[/size][/b][/center]
[font="Arial] [/font][/color][color="black"][font="Arial][size="2"]Philadelphia Eagles safety Quintin Mikell told[/font] Philly Sports Daily [font="Arial][size="2"]that Pro Bowl kicker David Akers, who missed twogame-altering field goals in Sunday's 21-16 wild-card loss to the Green Bay Packers, endured off-fieldissues in the days leading up to the game.[/size][/font]

"I don't want to put him out there, but he's been goingthrough a lot this week," Mikell said. "He has some stuff going on.And for him to even be out here was big. He fought through a lot today and this week."

Akers, who made a 29-yard field goal in the second quarter, missedkicks of 41 and 34 yards down the stretch.

"He was dealing with a lot of stuff this week, and he cameout, he fought and he did as well as he could," Mikell said. "I'll let everybody else talk about it, but he was going through a lot this week."

Philly Sports Daily states that Akers is dealing with "a family health issue," according to a source close to the situation.

Akers, who told reporters after the game that he might have played his last game in an Eagles uniform, made no excuse for his performance.

"I just don't want to hurt (this team). Any opportunity I go out there, I want to do well for them. I really feel bad for my teammates, coaches, the organization and all that," Akers said.

"We can all count, and those points would have helped," said Eagles coach Andy Reid, who defended his decision to attempt a field goalon fourth-and-1 from Green Bay's 16 and trailing by 11 points.

"You kick it and it's an eight-point game," Reid told reporters. "The right thing to do is kick it. (Akers) is a Pro Bowlkicker, so I'm thinking he's going to make it."

Note: Eagles versatile wide receiver and return man DeSean Jackson told the Delaware County Daily Times that he is confident the team will adjust the remainder of his one-year contract to reflect his productivity. "I think they will in the offseason," Jackson said. "So we'll see how that goes. I'm very confident that the right things will happen here. I'm happy here. I love playing in Philadelphia. Hopefully we can continue to make this last."

[font="Arial][size="2"]The Associated Press contributed to this report.[/size][/font][font="Arial] [/font][/color]

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Philadelphia local radio this morning...NOBODY is blaming Akers, nobody. There's talk that Akers turned down a 3-year extension with the team and now he's being given the "fuck you" treatment from the organization and some coaches. I don't know if this is true or not but Andy Reid has crucified this guess in front of the press, for the past few weeks.

Speaking of Reid, just as I suspected, people are calling for his head.