Eagles linebacker Nakobe Dean returned to action after missing four games on IR with a foot injury but he wasn’t a starter.
The Eagles went with a rotation and Dean played fewer snaps than both Nicholas Morrow and Zach Cunningham, who started the Eagles’ 20-14 loss to the Jets.
Dean, 22, said he didn’t know the plan until the end of the week.
“I mean, it is what it is as far as whatever we gotta do for the team,” Dean said about not being a starter. “They kind of told me they was gonna put me on a snap count being my first game back in four weeks. And just kind letting me get back into the feel of things as far as conditioning and as far as I feel on my foot and everything. Those guys have been playing real well so they earned every single rep and as they should be playing.”
Here’s how the snaps broke down at linebacker:
Cunningham: 49 snaps (75%)
Morrow: 36 snaps (55%)
Dean: 32 snaps (49%)
While the Eagles’ offense was shut out in the second half, the Eagles had a very strong defensive performance against the Jets. And their trio of linebackers played well.
It’ll be fascinating to see where this rotation goes from here. The Eagles began the season with Dean and Cunningham as their starters and with Morrow on the practice squad. But when Dean suffered a foot injury in the season opener, Morrow became the starting MIKE linebacker.
With the linebacker rotation, the defensive line rotation and all the injuries in the secondary, there were a ton of moving parts on that side of the ball on Sunday. We saw one Too Many Men penalty early in the second quarter.
“It affects [communication],” Dean said. “A lot of guys that hasn’t played with certain groups are out there. You gotta be confident in those guys and you kinda got to communicate for them. When you’re out there, you gotta be oozing with confidence in those guys so they can come out and play. And I feel like they didn’t do a bad job.”
Dean said he felt pretty good physically after the game but wants to keep working to get back to 100 percent after missing four games.
Other defensive notes:
• James Bradberry and Terrell Edmunds were the only defensive players to play all 65 snaps. By the end of the game, Bradberry was the only opening day starter in the secondary left standing. Darius Slay missed the game with a knee injury. Reed Blankenship left with a ribs injury after 42 snaps, Avonte Maddox is done for the year and Justin Evans is on IR.
• In this game, we also saw injuries to Eli Ricks and Bradley Roby. Ricks played 12 snaps and Roby played 30.
• The DL rotation: Fletcher Cox 51 (78%), Josh Sweat 49 (75%), Haason Reddick 47 (72%), Jordan Davis 44 (68%), Milton Williams 41 (63%), Kentavius Street 23 (35%), Brandon Graham 19 (29%), Derek Barnett 13 (20%), Moro Ojomo 5 (8%), Nolan Smith 3 (5%). The Eagles were without Jalen Carter and Marlon Tuipulotu but 78% for Cox is an awful lot, especially after he missed last week’s game with a back injury. Something to monitor going forward.
Offensive notes
• Lane Johnson lasted just 9 plays before leaving the game with an ankle injury. He was replaced by Jack Driscoll, who played the remaining 61 offensive snaps and really struggled. Driscoll gave up a team-high eight pressures, according to ProFootballFocus.
• Jason Kelce started and played all 70 offensive snaps. This was his 145th consecutive start, a new Eagles record.
• Without Quez Watkins, who is on IR with a hamstring injury, Olamide Zaccheaus played 57 of 70 snaps. He had just 1 catch for 5 yards but had a 15-yarder on the sideline called back because of an illegal shift penalty. DeVonta Smith played 69 of 70 snaps, while A.J. Brown played 67. Britain Covey was out there for two snaps.
• At tight end, Dallas Goedert played 54 snaps, followed by Jack Stoll (22) and Grant Calcaterra (5). Despite Johnson going down, the Eagles were in 11 personnel on 80% of their snaps and went with 12 personnel on just 9 snaps or 13%.
• At running back, it remained D’Andre Swift (40), Kenny Gainwell (29) and Boston Scott (5).
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