Eagles Nakobe Dean Puts Injury In Past: "I'm Not Back, I'm Better"

The linebacker keeps stacking good practice days and is ready to put the injury behind him and earn playing time.

Eagles linebacker Nakobe Dean at training camp / Ed Kracz/Eagles on SI

PHILADELPHIA – Those who were there on Sunday to see it agreed, it was Nakobe Dean’s best practice in an Eagles uniform, and this is his third summer.

That's terrific news for the Eagles, who felt they got a steal when the Butkus Award winner for the nation’s top linebacker in his final season at Georgia slipped to the third round in the 2022 NFL Draft. He percolated behind T.J. Edwards and Kyzir White as a rookie then, after being handed the starting job last year, he got hurt, eventually had foot surgery, and played just five games.

This year?

“I go out there and I play ball,” he said. “That’s what I do. That’s what I’m supposed to do. And that’s what I’m going to do. …the injury I had was a tough one. I feel good now. I feel strong. I feel like I’m getting it back.”

The injury gave rise to the Dean-is-too-small-to-hold-up-in-the-NFL debate, and at 5-11, 230 pounds it was, and could still be, a legitimate argument.

A reason for his drop in the draft, where many national experts thought he’d be a first-round selection or no later than a mid-second rounder at worst, may have had to do with a report about a shoulder injury in the days leading up to it. Dean shot those rumors down, saying the shoulder was fine.

Eagles LB Nakobe Dean / John McMullen/Eagles on SI

Now, he is healthy, has stayed healthy all summer, and his confidence is growing.

“All offseason, I didn’t have a day off, I didn’t have an offseason,” he said. “It was five days a week until training camp started as far as getting that foot right, getting better. It’s like I’m not back, I’m better.”

It’s been difficult to pull the reins in on Dean during practices. He will not shy away from contact. If you’re not ready to be hit, that’s on you.

On Sunday, he "thudded" running back Will Shipley to the ground after a pass for minimal yards. All he was doing, he said, was following the order of his third linebacker coach in as many years. That would be Bobby King who followed D.J. Eliot who followed Nick Rallis.

“BK (King) is big on block destruction, or trying to be more physical with the guards, and then when you tackle – we don’t tackle as much in camp, so you try to thud as much as you can,” he said. “In past years, I feel like I two-hand touched always. I want to thud.

"Offensive guys have embraced it. They embraced the toughness. They want a feel. The offensive starters, they haven’t played in the preseason (games). So, the first time they get hit, they don’t want it to be Week 1."

Dean is happy to oblige them. He made just four starts last year after being handed a starting linebacker job, and now, faced with some strong competition to earn that starting job back this summer, Dean has responded in a big way.

“I want to play,” he said, “and I want to be the first one that plays. But I can’t control that. The only thing I can control is what I come out here and do every day, work hard and continue to get better. I feel like I’ve had the kind of camp that I’m supposed to have.”

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