UPDATE: The Eagles announced on Tuesday that Dean was placed on injured reserve, and Nicholas Morrow was signed to the active roster.
The Philadelphia Eagles walked away with a 25-20 road win over the New England Patriots to open up the regular season on Sunday evening. However, the Eagles also saw two defensive players suffer notable injuries, which will sideline them for at least Week 2 or longer.
NFL Network Insider Ian Rapoport reported Monday that second-year linebacker Nakobe Dean is expected to miss multiple weeks with a foot injury. Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni confirmed that the young linebacker will be out for several weeks, according to Geoff Mosher of Inside The Birds.
ESPN’s Tim McManus added that short-term IR is a possibility for Dean, but he’s not slated to have surgery, and it’s not a season-ending injury. Dean made his first NFL start on Sunday afternoon against the Patriots and posted seven total tackles. With Dean set to miss some time, Philadelphia signed free agent veteran linebacker Rashaan Evans to the practice squad on Monday, per ESPN’s Adam Schefter.
Evans spent last season with the Falcons, where he started in all 17 games and had a career-high 159 combined tackles, six tackles for loss, and three quarterback hits. He also only allowed two receiving touchdowns last season. It remains to be seen if the Eagles call up Evans for Thursday night’s game, as they also have LBs Nicholas Morrow and Ben VanSumeren on the taxi squad. Philly fans should expect an expanded role for Christian Elliss, who had four combined tackles and played 34 defensive snaps.
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