Eagles’ LB Is Anticipating The Pads’ Arrival.

When things become more tangible, Nakobe Dean thinks he will stand out.
PHILADELPHIA: Nakobe Dean, a third-year linebacker with the Eagles, has been itching for Tuesday.

That’s when the Eagles eventually don their pads.
At the beginning of training, head coach Nick Sirianni remarked, “Nakobe came back in great shape.” worked himself to death. When I walked past him on the eve of the first session, he said, “Are we putting the pads on tomorrow?”

“I am aware that he is prepared. Both intellectually and physically, I know he’s ready. I can’t wait to see him.
Most players’ lists don’t include the specifics of CBAs, and teams aren’t even permitted to wear pads until the conclusion of the mutually agreed-upon acclimation period.

It’s been a while coming for Dean, who was sidelined in the first few weeks of November of last year due to a second foot ailment that ultimately kept him from playing in only five games.

After undergoing Lisfranc surgery, the 2022 third-round selection wasn’t cleared to play until early June, at minicamp.

“Idon’t know if you know, but I didn’t get cleared until the last week of minicamp,” Dean said after practice Monday. “So after that, in the summertime, it was just kind of pushing myself to get ready because I didn’t have that real offseason to push myself to get into that (top) shape.

“So, I did it for six weeks during the summer.”

But Dean wasn’t the same person who showed up at LB when he came to camp.

Devon White, a free agent pickup, and Zack Baun, another free agent signing, have shared the majority of the first-team reps.
But Dean finds himself increasingly blending in with the ones. He completed 7-on-7 reps with the first team on Monday with White.

“For me, when I came in trying to learn the scheme, it was me learning both linebacker positions,” Dean said. “If I’m in and they tell me I’m playing MIKE today, cool. If they tell me I’m dime, cool … It’s not doing anything but helping me become a better linebacker, and helping me understand the scheme better.”

Now, on the eve of pad day, Dean is ready to re-stake his claim as the Eagles’ top linebacker.