Eagles’ Fangio on Dean: ‘We’re going to miss him a ton’

On Sunday, the Philadelphia Eagles defeated the Green Bay Packers in the wild-card game, but they lost one of their better players on defense. Nakobe Dean left in the second quarter with a torn patellar tendon in his left knee, which will sideline him for the rest of the playoffs and possibly some of next season.

The 24-year-old Dean had a breakout season in 2024. He had 120 tackles, three sacks, and an interception. This team will miss Dean when they host the Rams in the Divisional Round on Sunday.

Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni discussed the season that Dean had.

“He has made big plays all year long,” Sirianni said Monday. “One that comes to everyone’s mind is going to be the interception against Jacksonville to seal the game, But he had a couple plays in yesterday’s game that were just outstanding, that set the tone of how we were going to play.

“The fourth play of the game, the way he comes down – I think the fourth play of the game yesterday really shows you who Nakobe Dean is. He identifies the play lightning fast, and that’s because of how much time he spends working on this game. He loves football and how much time he spends working on this game of football and being able to diagnose plays… He’s had a really good year.”

The third-year linebacker makes the calls on defense, and Eagles defensive coordinator Vic Fangio says the team will miss Dean.

“He’s really played well for us this year and gotten better and better as the season wore on,” Fangio said Tuesday. “He had the green dot. He was a call leader out there, making the calls that ILBs have to make. We’re going to miss him a ton.”

Without Dean, standout LB Zack Baun will have green dot, and Oren Burks will likely be Dean’s replacement. In addition, rookie Jeremiah Trotter Jr. could get some playing time, and they signed LB Nicolas Morrow to their practice squad.

Again, Dean will be missed, but it’s next man up, and hopefully, that next man up can get the job done for the Eagles.