Nakobe Dean didn’t return from injury as a starter, but Sean Desai has confidence in a rotation of Eagles LBs

During training camp and the preseason, Eagles defensive coordinator Sean Desai rotated players in the secondary and at inside linebacker to evaluate combinations that could last into the regular season.

As of Week 6, Desai is still rotating players at those positions, and he isn’t hesitating to continue to do so on a game-by-game basis.

Week 1 starter Nakobe Dean made his return to the lineup in Sunday’s loss to the New York Jets after spending the last four games on injured reserve with a foot injury. His starting role, however, wasn’t waiting for him upon his return — Nicholas Morrow was the first and only inside linebacker on the field for the majority of the Jets’ first series of the game.

Zach Cunningham joined Morrow on the field on third-and-5, the last play of a six-play drive until the punt unit came on the field. Dean didn’t make his return until the second Jets series, in which he served as the every-down linebacker. Morrow came on the field when the Eagles went from a five-man front to a four-man front.

Desai said Tuesday that his rationale behind rotating players had to do with both keeping players energized throughout the game and with taking advantage of the depth at the position.

“I think it was a good situation for us to keep everyone fresh and that’s a big thing for us,” Desai said. “We want to stay fresh through the fourth quarter in every game and the whole season, and we have some good players at that position who are playing really good football for us, so might as well get everybody some shots on goal.”

Desai continued to use different combinations of Dean, Morrow, and Cunningham as the game progressed. On the third Jets series, Dean and Cunningham were on the field together. On the fourth, it was Morrow and Cunningham. By the end of the game, Cunningham had racked up the majority of the snaps (49, 75%), followed by Morrow (36, 55%), and Dean (32, 49%).

The trade-off with using a rotation of players at inside linebacker, especially seeing as both Dean and Morrow were wearing the radio headset in their helmets as the defensive play-callers, is that it can add additional strain on the on-field communication. Desai said that they prepare throughout the week by putting themselves in game scenarios. On game day, linebackers coach D.J. Eliot helps manage the sideline and vice president of equipment operations Greg Delimitros and his staff sort out the equipment for the green dot wearers.

However, Desai did not pin the blame on player communication for the too-many-men-on-the-field penalty in the second quarter that gave the Jets a first down. Cunningham was caught trying to leave the field and didn’t make it to the sideline before the Jets snapped the ball. Desai took responsibility, saying that the Jets went no-huddle on the play and he shouldn’t have called for a substitution.

Even as Dean works himself back into game shape, Desai implied that he may continue to use a rotation of linebackers depending on the game plan.

“I really think it’s by week and by game and what the package and the plan is that what we want to do,” Desai said. “But we feel confident in any of those guys going out there and executing for us.”

Similarly, Desai started the game using a rotation at outside cornerback between 2022 undrafted free agent Josh Jobe and 2023 undrafted free agent Eli Ricks. However, this rotation was more obviously motivated by injury, as starter Darius Slay was ruled out on Friday with a knee injury. The former Alabama players alternated series starting with Jobe on the first drive alongside James Bradberry.

But on the first play of the fourth series, Ricks collided with Cunningham and suffered a knee injury, forcing a premature exit. Ricks came out to the sideline to start the second half, but he never returned to the game and was later ruled out. Jobe took over at the position for the rest of the game, and while he incurred a pair of penalties (holding and pass interference) and allowed two receptions for 38 yards, he also registered two pass breakups.

Desai echoed a similar reasoning behind his rotation of the young cornerbacks, touting the depth at the position that general manager Howie Roseman has built.

“Very similar to the linebacker one and the D-line room or wherever we are rotating the secondary with Eli and Josh that we felt both those guys are ready to play and we liked the matchups,” Desai said. “And they both have different strengths, and so they present different problems to an offense, and we try to use that to our advantage any time we can and we’ll continue to try to do some of that kind of stuff.”

The Eagles’ injury situation in the secondary is murky as they head into a Sunday night matchup against the Miami Dolphins and their No. 1-ranked offense. Ricks and nickel cornerback Bradley Roby (shoulder) left Sunday’s game with injuries. Slay and safety Sydney Brown (hamstring) were ruled out last week. Safety Justin Evans (knee) was placed on injured reserve on Friday.

Regardless of who is playing in the secondary on a week-to-week basis, Desai expressed confidence in the entire group and its next-man-up mentality.

“Our standard is the standard, and everybody understands that in the defense of when we have certain techniques and certain fundamentals, we want to play to that standard regardless of who is in the game, and that’s what we’re trying to build,” Desai said.