Philadelphia Eagles starting linebacker Nakobe Dean was carte off the field during Sunday's Wild Card game versus the Green Bay Packers. Though the hope was that the apparent injury he suffered was minor, he has received an unfortunate injury update.
It has been revealed that Dean suffered a significant knee injury, and will miss the remainder of the Eagles' playoff run.
According to NFL insider Ian Rapoport, "Eagles LB Nakobe Dean, who was carted off during last night's playoff win, is feared to have suffered a significant knee injury that would knock him for the playoffs, sources tell me and Mike Garafolo. He'll have an MRI this morning to deliver the full news. Dean emerged as a starter this season with 128 tackles, including 9 for a loss."
Dean will receive more testing to determine the damage that was caused to his knee, but he will now miss the rest of the postseason and could be looking at a length of recovery time based on the extent of the injury he received.
Following a tackle, Dean appeared to get rolled on and was shown to be in immediate pain. The training staff would take the field to administer aid to the linebacker, and he had to be helped off the field with assistance.
Dean was on the sideline for a bit when the cart came out, and he was shown on the telecast being carted to the locker room. The usual case for players needing to be carted off the field is serious, but sometimes the injuries only turn out to be minor.
That is not the case for the rising linebacker, and Dean will have to spend the rest of the playoffs recovering from his knee injury. This is a huge loss for the Eagles, as the linebacker had a wonderful 2024 season.
Dean was second on the Eagles in total tackles, with 128. He only trailed Zach Baun, who leads the team with 128. Dean also had nine tackles for loss, compared to the 11 for Baun.
Dean and Baun formed a solid linebacking duo that was causing havoc for opposing quarterbacks.
The good news is the Eagles won, handily beating the Packers with a 22-10 final score. They move on to the Divisional Round of the Playoffs, where they will take on the winner of Monday's game against the Minnesota Vikings and Los Angeles Rams.
