Rusty or not, Eagles linebacker Nakobe Dean starting to look like his old self

By Reuben Frank • Published November 8, 2025

It was surprising to hear Nakobe Dean talk about how rusty he feels following his 255-day layoff with a knee injury.

Rusty? He sure doesn’t look rusty.

Dean has played at a high level the last two weeks after returning part-time to the linebacker spot he manned at a Pro Bowl-caliber level last year. 

He tore up his left knee in the playoff win over the Packers, had surgery a few days later, missed all of OTAs, training camp and the preseason games, returned to practice last month and played 64 productive snaps against the Vikings and Giants in his first defensive action in 10 months.

"I mean, I do feel a little rusty,” Dean said at his locker Friday. "I missed a couple backfield plays, missed a couple TFL (tackle for loss) opportunities.

"I'm seeing it good, I’ve just got to finish. I got beat on a route that I damn never get beat on. So it’s a couple of things. I knocked a little rust off but a little more to go.”

Zack Baun’s locker is a few feet away from Dean’s. Baun, a 1^st-team all-pro last year, is Dean’s closest friend on the team and was his running mate at inside linebacker during the Super Bowl season until Dean got hurt.

He's asked about that rust Dean spoke of and he just lets out a big laugh.

"He said he’s rusty?” Baun said with mock incredulity. "He said that? He’s not rusty. Watch him play. He is not rusty.”

Rusty or not, it’s been fun watching Dean play football again after he missed the Rams and Commanders playoff games and the Super Bowl last year and the first six games this year, although he did play a handful of special teams snaps in the first Giants game.

"It's been great, you know, it's been great just being back able to play the game and being able to fly around and make plays,” Dean said. "I'm blessed.

"I feel like I was able to play about Week 3, if you would have asked me. So coming back and really playing Week 7, I was in a good place. There was no other time. It was time to go, time to be myself.”

Dean doesn’t hesitate to offer up that 255-day figure. It’s etched in his head. That’s how long it was from the day he got hurt to his first day at practice in early October.

It’s a long time to not do the thing you love the most. 

Dean said while he was recovering physically, he began playing chess more, played more pool, but most importantly he made sure to do as much mental football work as he could so he could be a smarter, more prepared version of himself once he returned.

"It's a must,” he said. "I mean, it's a must. If you want to stay connected to the game and you can't physically do it, you got to do it mentally. You got to play the game in your head. You got to watch film, watch practice film. 

"I remember in college, I used to almost doze off when you watch a practice and you're not out there and I'm not out there. Now I’m watching it in a different way. From a full-eyes view. You're seeing the safeties, the corners, what everybody's doing, the nickels, everybody. We're in base, we're in this, we're in the simulated pressure, the fire zone, all this. You're just seeing all that kind of work together. You're not just only watching the linebackers. That’s how you get better.

"I dove deeper down in the game during (his layoff). As much as I think that I knew about the game, that I knew about ball, I can always continue to learn and I feel like I did it too from a different point of view.”

While Dean was out, Campbell and Baun got all the snaps at inside linebacker. That’s changed. Baun won’t leave the field, but Vic Fangio has to figure out how to get Campbell and Dean both snaps.

It's a good problem to have. 

"Every week you want to continue to get better,” Dean said. "In college, it was crazy. I used to have people who had experience in the league, coaches and players. They said, 'You just don't get better in the NFL during the season.' And since I got here, I'm like, I can definitely get better.

"You’ve just gotta work on yourself, you gotta work on your game day in and day out. It's a mental thing. and you definitely can get better throughout the season. 

"And I feel like us as a team are going to continue to get better. It’s November now and you want to play your best ball in November, December, January.

"You wanna continue to get better. You wanna make sure you're hitting that stride when it's time to hit that stride.”

And how long will it take to knock off the rest of the rust?

"Honestly, I don't even know why I said rust anyway,” Dean said with a laugh.

"Because I know the type of league we're in. There’s no time for rust. You can't go out there, ain't nobody gonna look at you and say, ‘It’s OK, he was rusty.’ You know what I’m saying? You need to just go out and play.”

https://www.nbcsportsphiladelphia.com/nfl/philadelphia-eagles/nakobe-dean-linebacker-back-from-injury-week-10-nfl-season/694447/