Torn Patellar Ends Dean’s Season
Playoffs Done For Birds LB
The injury scare for Eagles linebacker Nakobe Dean has turned into a nightmare.
Inside The Birds can confirm reports that the Eagles’ third-year linebacker, who exited Sunday’s playoff win against the Packers with a knee injury, tore his patellar tendon, which will sideline him for the rest of the postseason and cast doubt about his readiness to start the 2025 season.
Dean’s injury was first reported by the NFL Network.
The Eagles will play Sunday in the divisional round against the winner of Monday night’s wild card game between the Rams and Vikings.
A patellar tendon injury is one of the more brutal knee injuries and can involve a rehab that can be more grueling than an ACL repair.
Without Dean, the heartbeat of the Eagles’ defense, the Eagles will move forward with veteran Oren Burks alongside All Pro linebacker Zack Baun as the starting inside tandem.
Burks, who played for the 49ers last season, started in the Super Bowl last year when Niners linebacker Dre Greenlaw tore his Achilles running onto the field.

GETTY IMAGES: Eagles LB Nakobe Dean, carted off the field vs. Green Bay, will reportedly miss the rest of the postseason from a knee injury.
Burks, a seven-year vet who signed a one-year deal with the Eagles, has good size (6-2, 233) but isn’t as rangy and doesn’t play downhill with the same tenacity as Dean, who came back from major foot surgery in 2024 to post 128 tackles, three sacks, nine tackles for a loss, an interception, a fumble recovery and four pass breakups in a breakout season for the Georgia product picked in the third round of the 2022 draft.
“He’s been a great leader for us all year,” Burks said of Dean. “He’s probably one of the unsung heroes of the defense. He’s commanded respect from the top down, playing physical, getting everybody in the right spots. I just have a ton of respect with the way he’s handled himself as a pro.”
Added rookie cornerback Quinyon Mitchell: ““Nakobe is our vocal leader.”
Next up at linebacker if there’s another injury would be rookie Jeremiah Trotter Jr., a 2024 fifth-round pick and son of an Eagles legend who has shown promise throughout the season.
Burks’ entry into the starting lineup will likely also cause some movement on special teams, as Burks played 67 percent of special teams snaps against the Packers.
Dean will enter 2025 in the final year of his rookie deal. Despite his breakthrough season, Dean’s career has been beset by injuries.
He played sporadically as a rookie and then played all but five games last season because of two foot injuries, the latter of which was a Lisfranc sprain that required surgery.
– Geoff Mosher (@geoffmoshernfl) is co-host of the “Inside the Birds” podcast and staff writer for InsideTheBirds.com.
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