Vic Fangio spoke to reporters on Tuesday and was asked about how he plans to replace injured linebacker Nakobe Dean in the Eagles defense.
The plan might change.
When starting linebacker Nakobe Dean was forced to leave the Eagles’ wild-card win over the Packers in the second quarter last Sunday with a severe knee injury, it was veteran Oren Burks who replaced Dean.
Burks played 36 snaps after Dean left the game, and Jeremiah Trotter Jr. didn’t play any.
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But defensive coordinator Vic Fangio indicated Tuesday that there very well could be a change when the Eagles face the Rams at the Linc Sunday.
“We'll probably get Trott (some playing time),” he said. “We're not afraid to put him in there.”
Dean, who had a fantastic year in his first season as a full-time starter, is sidelined for the rest of the postseason and possibly into the 2025 season with a torn patellar tendon in his left knee.
Burks and Trotter have both been key special teamers for the Eagles this year. Burks, the Packers’ 3rd-round pick in 2018, has started 17 games over his seven NFL seasons and played 1,110 career snaps on defense, including 147 this year. Trotter, a 6th-round rookie, has played 104 defensive snaps, almost all of them the last two weeks of the regular season.
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Trotter’s dad, Jeremiah Trotter, spent eight seasons with the Eagles and played in the 2000, 2001, 2004, 2006 and 2009 postseasons in an Eagles uniform.
Fangio said part of the reason to use both Burks and Trotter on defense is because of their special teams obligations. Burks and Trotter ranked second and third on the team in special teams snaps with 319 and 295 behind only Kelee Ringo, with 340.
And Fangio believes a full dose of defense on top of a full dose of special teams could be too much for one linebacker to handle.
“Part of it is those two guys are on all special teams,” he said. “So depending upon the flow of the game, kind of like when Nakobe didn't play against Dallas, they had like seven- or eight-play drive and we had a pick six (by C.J. Gardner-Johnson), then they got the ball right back and drove it for like a nine-play drive. And then we went three- and-out on offense. So we had a bunch of plays right in a row there in a short span so something like that would be a good time to sub them.”
But Trotter in limited time has also shown that he’s got outstanding athleticism and instincts. Even though he just turned 22 and is a rookie 5th-round pick, he’s shown up when he’s gotten a chance. He had half a sack in that Dallas game and 11 tackles and a quarterback hit against the Giants on the last day of the regular season. It was Trotter that recovered Keisean Nixon’s fumble on the opening kickoff Sunday - a fumble forced by Burks.
“I think Trot's got a good future,” Fangio said. “And that future may be now. He's got good instincts, really likes the game, he's smart, he's got a lot of good qualities.”
Burks had 17 tackles in the Giants game, which the starters sat out. But he struggled Sunday after replacing Dean. Jordan Love was 5-for-5 for 62 yards when targeting Burks for a 118.3 passer rating. Burks also missed three tackles. Quarterbacks had an 80.6 rating targeting Dean this year and a 75.6 rating against Trotter in limited opportunities (seven targets).
Burks’ 12.4 yards per target allowed was 2nd-highest by any Eagle this year and highest by any NFL linebacker wild-card weekend.
“Oren's a good tackler, as we saw in the opening kickoff,” Fangio said. “We like him, too.”
Whoever plays and whatever combination they play in, the Eagles will miss Dean terribly. He ranked 14th in coverage among linebackers with that 80.6 rating. He also had nine tackles for loss, six quarterback hits, three sacks, a forced fumble, four pass breakups and 128 tackles in a monster season.
“He's really played good for us this year,” Fangio said. “Gotten better and better as the season wore on. He had the green dot, was a call leader out there in making the calls that ILBs have to make. So we're going to miss him a ton.”
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