Nakobe Dean is going to be placed on injured reserve for the second time this season.
Following the Eagles’ victory over the Cowboys, Dean sprained his Lisfranc foot, which led the Eagles to place him on injured reserve on Thursday. The Eagles haven’t ruled out his return, but injuries like this usually end a season.
This marks Dean’s second serious injury of the year. He missed the next four games due to a foot injury he sustained in the opening game in New England.
He recorded half a sack, 30 tackles, two tackles for loss, and a quarterback hit in portions of five games.
The expectation was that Dean, an Eagles third-round selection the previous season, would start every snap at middle linebacker and serve as the team’s defensive field general. However, due to his inconsistent play as well as the strong play of rookies Zach Cunningham and Nicholas Morrow, Dean has found himself in an odd linebacker rotation over the past few games.
During the three games he was healthy in between injuries, Dean did not play all 186 snaps; rather, he played just 102 of them. Morrow played 82 and Cunningham played 149 in those same three games.
Dean technically would be eligible to return for the Seahawks game in Seattle on Dec. 17. In the past, a second IR visit was season-ending but that’s no longer the rule.
Dean’s placement on injured reserve free the Eagles’ roster spot. Most likely, they’ll use it to activate Injured Rederse’s Cam Jurgens, a right guard. His practise window opened for the Eagles on November 1st, and he is
anticipated to play in Monday night’s Chiefs game in Kansas City. The Eagles opened Justin Evans’ practise window on Tuesday, so they would need to take further action if they wanted to use both. Josiah Scott might be released, or Quez Watkins could be taken off of injured reserve and signed to the practise squad, where he would be subject to waivers.
The Eagles have Cunningham, Morrow, and Christian Ellis as their three off-ball linebackers on the 53, with Dean on injured reserve. Nicholas Morrown, an undrafted rookie, was elevated last week and played 10 special teams snaps in his NFL debut against the Cowboys.
