Nakobe Dean suffered a torn patellar tendon during the Eagles’ wild-card win over the Packers Sunday and faces an extended rehab that will likely sideline him into the 2025 season, a league source confirmed to NBC Sports Philadelphia. The news was first reported by NFL Network’s Mike Garafolo and Ian Rapoport.
Dean, who had a tremendous breakout season, got hurt while tackling Packers tight end Tucker Kraft for a three-yard loss in the second quarter of the Eagles’ 22-10 win at the Linc.
He left the locker room on crutches and with a brace on his injured left knee.
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Dean and 1st-team all-pro Zack Baun formed one of the best Eagles linebacker tandems in recent franchise history in their first full seasons as full-time starters.
“It’s a tremendous loss,” Lane Johnson said. “He’s a guy that came in and battled. Last year was really a learning year for him and I felt like he took full advantage of it and he really became a key leader on the defense.
“Him and Zack are best friends off the field and they fuel each other and compete with each other. But as a teammate, he’s one of the best teammates we have. It’s going to be hard to replace Nakobe.”
Dean, the Eagles’ 3rd-round pick in 2022, was a deep backup and special teamer as a rookie and missed most of last year with a foot injury that required offseason surgery.
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He had three sacks, a game-clinching interception, 128 tackles, nine tackles for loss, six quarterback hits, four pass defenses, a forced fumble and two fumble recoveries in the regular season and two more tackles for loss Sunday in 23 snaps before the injury.
“You hate that,” Jalen Hurts said. “He’s a pivotal piece to our defense and he’ll be missed. I’m praying for a speedy recovery.”
Veteran Oren Burks replaced Dean after he got hurt and is the likely starter in the conference semifinal round. Burks, originally a Packers 3rd-round pick in 2018, has started 17 games. Jeremiah Trotter Jr. is the other backup linebacker.
“Playing for him out there,” Burks said. “He’s been our leader all year, just commanding accountability from the top down. Going to miss him.”
Everybody in the locker room took the injury hard, but nobody took it harder than Nolan Smith, his roommate at Georgia and one of his closest friends.
Smith spoke passionately and eloquently about Dean, who he's known since Dean was in high school.
“It hurt my heart,” he said. “Then I was the first one there and I tried to help him up and he said (shakes head). I just immediately closed my eyes and prayed.
“Because to a lot of people, man, it’s a game. This is a game to them. ‘Oh, it’s just football, it’s just football.’ Man, this is our livelihood. I know me and him leave it out there on the field. We was just talking about it. It’s another time that we’re in the playoffs together.
“And it almost made me tear up before the game because we was roommates in college. I helped recruit him and tried to get him to come to Georgia with me. Two country boys and just trying to make a way. It just hurt my heart, man. I know I’m going on and on about this but, man, he worked so hard and his determination.
"He’s just one of those guys that I just felt like I can lean on and ask for anything and he’d give me the clothes off his back or the food off his plate.”
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