Eagles Vic Fangio Makes It Clear - Nakobe Dean Starting Over Devin White

The Eagles defensive coordinator said that the third-year LB from Georgia beat out Devin White during training camp.

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

PHILADELPHIA - Vic Fangio came right out and said it.

Eagles Make Surprise Move With Practice Squad PersonnelNakobe Dean is the starting linebacker. It doesn’t matter if Devin White recovers from an ankle injury that kept him from traveling to Brazil for the season opener or if White isn’t better by Monday night when the Eagles host the Atlanta Falcons.

“Nakobe is the starter,” said Fangio on Wednesday.

The defensive coordinator added that White will still be a part of things, which would exclude the possibility that he would be released. Now, the veteran could request a release to see what else is out there, but he has already been down that road this offseason and didn’t find many takers, so he signed a one-year contract with the Eagles for a minimal amount of money - $3.5 million guaranteed.

“We talked to him (White) about it,” said Fangio. “He's still a good player. Tweaked his ankle last week. He's still a part of it and will be a part of it.”

Fangio said that Dean won the job with his play during training camp, something that was evident to those who witnessed all 16 practices spanning late July and all of August even as White continued to get most of the first-team reps with Zack Baun.

Dean lost his job last year to injury. It was handed to him heading into last season, but a foot injury that would later require surgery sidelined after he had played just five games.

This year he had to win it back, and he did.

Now, we’ll see what he does with it. Obviously, it starts with staying healthy and building on his Week 1 performance against the Packers. Dean some good things in the game and some bad things, such as letting tight Tucker Kraft get behind him coverage for a big gain.

Had Dean been able to hold on to an easy interception and return it for a touchdown, which he could have done easily it was that wide open, he would have been a hero.

As it was, the third-year linebacker from the University of Georgia, finished with four tackles, including two for loss and one pass defended in 64 snaps (96 percent).

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