The Eagles may have come away with a win Sunday afternoon, but they did not come away unscathed.
While several players, including Fletcher Cox and James Bradberry, had to leave the field with injuries perhaps the biggest one was Nakobe Dean.
The second-year linebacker is supposed to be the team’s top option at a position where they only rostered two other players. Only halfway through the game, Dean went down with an injury.
He left the field and wound up with a boot on by the end of the game.
NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport is now reporting he will indeed miss multiple weeks due to the injury.
#Eagles LB Nakobe Dean is expected to miss multiple weeks with a foot injury suffered yesterday in their win over the #Patriots, sources say. It was relatively decent news considering, as no surgery is required — he should be back with plenty of time this season.
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) September 11, 2023
With the Eagles playing on Thursday night and having just four days of rest, it was a stretch to think he’s play in week two. This announcement confirms he’ll miss more than just that one game, however.
The upcoming slate includes Minnesota on Thursday night, then a very long week until they play Tampa Bay two Mondays later. After that, they have Washington, Los Angeles (Rams), and New York (Jets).
While nothing has been done at the present, if the Eagles believe Dean will miss at least four games, they might put him on injured reserve to open a roster spot on the 53-man roster.
As of now, the Eagles linebackers on the 53-man roster include only Zach Cunningham and Christian Elliss. The team also has veteran Nicolas Morrow on the practice squad along with UDFA Ben VanSumeren on the practice squad.
Linebacker Kyron Johnson has also been in the musical chairs that the team has been playing on the practice squad, moving he, Taiwan Mullen, Joseph Ngata and Brady Russell through the practice squad spots every few days.
