The Philadelphia Eagles will activate Nakobe Dean from the reserve/physically unable to perform list (PUP) to play in the team’s Week 6 Thursday Night Football game against the New York Giants, according to a report from Matt Zenitz of CBS Sports.
He adds: “[Dean’s] workload [is] expected to be limited at first but [it’s] set to progressively increase throughout the year.”
This sentiment aligns with what Eagles defensive coordinator Vic Fangio had to say about Dean on Tuesday.
Q. At this time last week, you were still waiting to see how Eagles LB Nakobe Dean looked. Now that you’ve had a week seeing him, how do you think he factors in when he gets out there?
Fangio: There’s a chance he could be active this week. Not positive yet.
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Q. And what type of role do you anticipate for him?
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Fangio: Oh, it would just be – because he hadn’t had any [2025] game [experience], no training camp – it wouldn’t be a full-time role yet.
Dean is set to play (on the MetLife Stadium turf, yikes) for the first time since suffering a torn patellar tendon during the Eagles’ January 13 playoff win over the Green Bay Packers.
While he was a really good starting linebacker next to Zack Baun last offseason, his role moving forward is unclear. Baun and Jihaad Campbell are firmly entrenched as the team’s top two starting off-ball linebackers. And Fangio has repeatedly shot down the idea of moving Campbell to edge rusher.
So, perhaps Dean will be limited to some occasional defensive snaps in specific packages? And otherwise be a backup and special teams contributor?
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We’ll see.
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At the very least, getting Dean boosts the Eagles’ depth at linebacker. Of course, they were already looking solid there with Jeremiah Trotter Jr. having a good summer and rookie Smael Mondon Jr. also showing promise in the offseason.
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