A big step toward the return of Nakobe Dean from Injured Reserve

[time2rock]

A big step toward the return of Nakobe Dean from Injured Reserve

The Eagles on Tuesday activated the 21-day practice window for linebacker Nakobe Dean.

By Dave Zangaro • Published October 10, 2023

 

The Eagles on Tuesday afternoon activated linebacker Nakobe Dean’s 21-day practice window.

This is the first step toward Dean’s possible return on Sunday afternoon against the Jets.

Dean, 22, started in the opener against the Patriots and played 49 snaps before suffering a foot injury. Dean had 7 tackles (4 solo) in Week 1 before the injury. He was placed on IR the next day, but he has now missed the necessary four games and is eligible to return.

Just last week, Dean was working with a trainer on a side field and it appeared he was trending toward a return.

When a practice window is opened, the team has 21 days to either activate that player to the 53-man roster or shut them down for the season. Barring a setback, Dean should be back very soon.

In Dean’s absence, the Eagles started Nicholas Morrow and Zach Cunningham at linebacker. Morrow, who began the season on the practice squad, has been wearing the green dot on his helmet as the middle linebacker.

While Morrow has performed well, this job should still belong to Dean. The Eagles used a third-round pick on Dean out of Georgia last season and after losing T.J. Edwards and Kyzir White in free agency, didn’t hesitate to plug Dean into the starting MIKE position. 

But with how well Morrow has played over the past few games, could there still be a role for him?

"We see roles for everybody,” Eagles defensive coordinator Sean Desai said. "That's how we train our guys; they've all got to be ready. And there's so many different situations and so many different combinations of things that we can get to that the more talent, the better. The more decisions like that that we have to make the better it is for us.”

When the Eagles return to practice on Wednesday, Dean will be on the practice field with them. But since he’s still technically on IR, he won’t show up on the daily injury reports.

The Eagles will need to activate Dean by Saturday at 4 p.m. if he’s going to play against the Jets. They have one open spot on their 53-man roster but also have to figure out what to do with their punter; Braden Mann has already been elevated from the practice squad the maximum three times.

https://www.nbcsportsphiladelphia.com/nfl/philadelphia-eagles/a-big-step-toward-the-return-of-nakobe-dean-from-injured-reserve/540190/

[time2rock]

Quote

While Morrow has performed well, this job should still belong to Dean. The Eagles used a third-round pick on Dean out of Georgia last season

Personally I don't care about draft status ... whoever is playing overall better ball and gives us the best chance to win should be the one on the field (not saying that can't or won't be Dean).

[brkmsn]

23 hours ago, time2rock said:

Personally I don't care about draft status ... whoever is playing overall better ball and gives us the best chance to win should be the one on the field (not saying that can't or won't be Dean).

I don't think that was his "reason." I think Dave was just trying to point out how highly the Eagles think of Dean. 

[time2rock]

1 hour ago, brkmsn said:

I don't think that was his "reason." I think Dave was just trying to point out how highly the Eagles think of Dean. 

I was just conveying my own feeling about that (not that anyone in the organization would share the same POV).