The Eagles on Tuesday afternoon made a series of roster moves, including placing starting middle linebacker Nakobi Dean on injured reserve.
Dean will be out for at least the next four weeks but is expected to return this season.
“I’m just thankful it’s not longer than this because these things could be worse,” Eagles coach Nick Sirianni said Monday. “Just thankful it’s not a season-ending injury.”
In addition to placing Dean on IR, the Eagles signed Nicholas Morrow to the active roster from the practice squad and replaced his spot on the practice squad with the signing of veteran Rashaan Evans.
Dean, 22, made his first career NFL start Sunday afternoon in New England and played the first 49 snaps of the game before suffering a foot injury. This was the first extended playing period of Dean’s career and he played very well, especially against the run.
Without Dean, the Eagles went with Zach Cunningham and Christian Ellis to finish the game at fullback. The Eagles started the season with only three players on their 53-man roster. Elliss and Safety Reed Blankenship took over the green dot responsibilities, getting the defensive play calls from the sideline.
It seems likely that the Eagles will start Ellis and Cunningham Thursday night against the Vikings, but Morrow should be active as well. Morrow entered training camp as the favorite to win the starting job but the Eagles added Cunningham on Aug. 6 and Ellis offers more on special teams.
“Really confident in [Morrow]”That’s why he’s on our 69-man roster,” Sirianni said. It’s because we believe in it. We believe in the things he can do. We believe in his style of play, his physical ability, and his ability to form a defensive line. There’s a lot of confidence in Nick, and if he has to step into that role, we’re excited, I’m excited to watch him progress and for his opportunity.
Evans, 27, was a first-round pick out of Auburn in 2018. After spending the first four years of his career with the Titans, Evans will start all 17 games for the Falcons in 2022. In his career, Evans has played in 76 games and He has 67 starts under his belt, and he set a career-high with 159 tackles in 2022. But this summer he wasn’t even in camp, so he has some catching up to do.
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