Nakobe Dean update: Eagles activate 21-day practice window to return from IR

Philadelphia’s top linebacker set to return this week?

The Philadelphia Eagles activated Nakobe Dean’s 21-day practice window to return from injured reserve, according to an official team announcement on Tuesday afternoon.

Dean was placed on IR after suffering a foot injury 49 snaps in to the Eagles’ Week 1 game against the New England Patriots. He was required to miss four games before being eligible to return.

Just because Dean’s window was activated doesn’t necessarily guarantee will play in Week 6. The Eagles will probably want to see how he progresses in practice this week before activating him to the roster or not ahead of Saturday’s 4:00 PM deadline.

If/when Dean is ready to play, it’ll be interesting to see how the Eagles handle their linebacker snap counts upon his return. In Week 1, Dean and Zach Cunningham were the top two linebackers with the former handling the “green dot” duties as the defensive signal caller. After Dean got hurt, the Eagles brought up Nicholas Morrow from the practice squad to fill his place. And although he hasn’t been perfect (see: two missed takeaway opportunities in Week 5), he’s played fairly well.

So, will the Eagles take Morrow off the field entirely? Will it be Morrow and Dean as the starting linebackers with Cunningham also rotating in? Will Dean be able to remain healthy?

We’ll have to see how it shakes out. In any case, it’s good to see Dean is getting ready to return. The Eagles have high hopes for their 2022 third-round pick.