Eagles’ Nakobe Dean On His Rehab, Life Without BG

The Eagles aren’t fond of timetables when it comes to injured players.

However, Vic Fangio’s default setting is straightshooter and the veteran defensive coordinator did provide at least some information on Nakobe Dean and the star middle linebacker’s attempt to return from his torn left patellar tendon suffered in Philadelphia’s Wild Card Weekend playoff win over the Green Bay Packers back in January.

It came when discussing the placeholder for Dean until the Georgia product returns.

“Zack [Baun] can play either spot [Mike or Will],” Fangio said. “... Wherever we need him the most, what's best for the team, which will be determined some by who the next guy is until Nakobe comes back, which he won't be back for a while. That'll be TBD. 

“That'll be a good question after two preseason games.”

Dean is likely to start the 2025 season on the PUP list, but the idea that Fangio was so emphatic that Dean’s job will be there when the fourth-year veteran is ready to return was a testament to his breakout 2024 season, which often gets overlooked in the shadow of Baun’s All-Pro season.

Dean himself spoke about his rehab while speaking with Brandon Robinson at  Rodney McLeod’s 5th Annual Sneaker Ball at Philly Live! Casino & Hotel earlier this month. 

“I mean, life has been good,” Dean told Robinson at the former Eagles safety’s charity event.“I’ve been mostly rehabbing, just trying to get my mind, body and soul right; starting on my body so for me, I just hit the ground running with rehab.”

Dean has been through tough injuries before, most notably a Lisfranc issue that progressed slowly from Roll-A-Bout to crutches and a walking boot before the Georgia product could return to really working his lower body.

In many ways, that proved to be a silver lining because Dean remade his upper body and returned as a much thicker and stronger player last season.

This time, Dean has been off crutches since he was seen at cleanout day after the Super Bowl LIX win, both a positive sign and one often misinterpreted. 

The star linebacker feels good, but a patellar tendon also needs a certain amount of time to heal properly, and walking around or even making a half-court basketball trick shot during an OTA field trip to the Palestra is not the same as leading an NFL defense.

“It’s been strenuous, man. Every day it’s been work but I love the progress and every bit of it,” Dean said when discussing his rehab. “You see that everybody’s journey was different, you know? Some people take longer or some people recover faster. So everybody’s different so, I just try not to project somebody else’s injury process on my own.”

Dean learned that bit of wisdom from some of the veteran leaders he was able to learn from early in his career, names like “Brandon Graham, Fletcher Cox… T.J. Edwards, Kyzir White, Hassan Reddick.”

Graham, in particular, made a lasting impression as BG does with most.

“It’s definitely gonna be different,” Dean said of moving forward after Graham finished his brilliant 15-year career. “BG was a big part of the energy of the team and we’re definitely going to miss his energy and what he brought to the locker room and outside on the field.”