July 23, 2025
Bill Streicher/Imagn Images
Eagles LB Nakobe Dean tore the patellar tendon in his knee last season.
Philadelphia Eagles linebacker Nakobe Dean will start training camp on the PUP list, Howie Roseman said during the team's introductory camp press conference. He is the only player with an injury designation.
The PUP list is a tool teams use for players prior to the start of training camp, in case the player is not ready for the start of the regular season. The PUP list must be applied to a player prior to the start of training camp, or it cannot be used at all. Once a player practices in camp, at all, they immediately become ineligible for the PUP list during the regular season. The player cannot participate in practice while on the PUP list.
The benefit of the PUP list is that a player is eligible to come off of it during training camp, or, if the team deems it necessary, after the first four games of the regular season. Once the regular season starts and the player remains on the PUP list, they must spend the first four weeks on the PUP list, and they would not count toward one of the 53 roster spots. (They would still count toward one of the 90 roster spots while on PUP during training camp.)
Dean had a breakout season in 2024, making 128 tackles, three sacks, a forced fumble, two recoveries, and a game-sealing INT Week 9 against the Jacksonville Jaguars.
Nakobe Dean intercepts Lawrence in the end zone! First career INT#JAXvsPHI pic.twitter.com/RtANcTJs77
— NFL (@NFL) November 4, 2024
In the Eagles' Wild Card Round win over the Packers, Dean tore a patellar tendon, which is an extremely serious injury, as our Evan Macy laid out back in January. That ended his season, and he will very likely miss time in 2025 as well. Vic Fangio gave a timetable of August for Jihaad Campbell to get back on the practice field, but said Dean "won't be back for a while."
Dean has one year left on his contract, and if he hadn't suffered such a serious injury, he would have been a candidate for an early contract extension. He can still be in the team's plans for 2025, and could be a reinforcement at some point later in the season.
Dean posted a video of his rehab on Instagram a few days ago:
Of course, with Dean being the only player on the PUP list, that means that rookie LB Jihaad Campbell will practice immediately, at least in a limited capacity.
MORE: 25 things Jimmy will be watching at Eagles training camp
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