The Facts: Adolpho Birch, the league's senior vice president of labor policy and government affairs, said Thursday the NFL believes the Eagles released Jackson because of "football reasons" based on "discussions and review of the situation."

Diehards Line: In case you missed it, Jackson's release from the Eagles last month came amid whispers that the field-stretching wideout held ties to reputed gang members. After the Eagles failed to provide an immediate, clear-cut reason for Jackson's release, NFL Players Association executive director DeMaurice Smith said earlier this month that the union planned to look into "whether or not there were comments or leaks from the team" or "misinformation to the media coming from the team." The NFL says that isn't the case. Worth noting: Birch added it's "fair to say that there is no indication that was the case -- with respect to him -- that he had any of those sorts of (gang) ties. ... I think we are comfortable that the decisions made on both ends were football decisions." Upon his release, Jackson vehemently denied any connection to gang activity. And as NFL.com suggests, the Redskins, of course, did their homework on Jackson before signing him -- coming to the same conclusions as the NFL.