January 14, 2025
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Nakobe Dean could be out for a bunch of the 2025 season as well.
The Eagles will be continuing their Super Bowl push without one of the key guys who got them there, linebacker Nakobe Dean, who tore his patellar tendon in their most recent win over the Packers.
It would be hard for the news to be worse, as the particular injury Dean sustained early on in the 22-10 Wild Card victory carries with it one of the longest recovery times.
We chatted with Dr. Dinesh Dhanaraj, the chief of orthopedic surgery at St. Mary Medical Center in Langhorne, who offered us some insight on just what the Eagles' defensive leader will be fighting through to return to the field. A note before getting started...
The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and guest authors and do not reflect any official policy or position of any NFL team or a team's athletic physicians.
After tallying an impressive 128 tackles — nine for loss — three sacks, six quarterback hits and an interception during the regular season, Dean is back on the injury list and will probably be there for quite a while. He battled a couple of unrelated foot injuries last season.
"It sounds significant," Dhananraj said of Dean's knee prognosis. "The tear, whether it's partial or full usually requires surgery. If it is indeed a full rupture, he would benefit from surgery — even non-athletes would have surgery for that. The tendon is the one fulcrum from the kneecap to the shin that helps the knee bend and flex. Running, pivoting, those are crucial to the function of the patellar tendon.
"These aren't great injuries to have, ACLs, torn Achilles, people come back from these and do well, patellar tendons are not as common and have been a career ender for certain people. Not saying people don't come back, [former Bears tight end] Jimmy Graham had one and he came back."
Graham returned from his injury in 2016, for what it's worth, and had a Pro Bowl year.
With Dean at inside linebacker, the Eagles' defense flew around all season and was statistically the best unit in all of football in many categories. It was seen in their most recent win. The issue with a patellar tendon injury is it could theoretically dampen Dean's athleticism.
"Sometimes people see a change in their function, their speed, their cutting and jumping ability, it's the nature of the injury itself," Dhananraj said.
The injury also takes forever to heal.
"Some studies have shown nine months to starting running, and 12 months for sport," the doctor said. "That all depends on the severity and how it's treated but that's a ballpark figure."
Dean is just 24 years old and in the athletic shape all of us could only dream of, so it stands to reason that he'll be back in the huddle, wearing the green dot and directing traffic again, and as the same dynamic player he was before he went down. It just might not be until 2026.
"It honestly would have been better if it was an ACL," Dhananraj said.
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