Vic Fangio hints at more play for Jeremiah Trotter Jr. in Sunday’s Eagles-Rams game with Nakobe Dean out

Vic Fangio has what he calls “a little rule.”

A backup linebacker wouldn’t solely practice with another backup linebacker when doing team drills, “because that’s not how it’s going to happen in a game,” the Eagles defensive coordinator said.

In the situation the Eagles are facing, with Nakobe Dean out for the playoffs, that means backups Oren Burks and Jeremiah Trotter Jr. have taken practice reps alongside Zack Baun, which will come in handy this weekend and if the Eagles continue to advance in the playoffs.

It was all Burks on Sunday after Dean suffered a knee injury, but things could change in the next round, when the Eagles host the Los Angeles Rams on Sunday at Lincoln Financial Field. Burks provided an immediate spark with a forced fumble on the opening kickoff that Trotter recovered but obviously was no Dean after entering the game on defense. The Green Bay Packers could target him at times in coverage, and he wasn’t nearly as impactful as Dean is against the run.

The evolution of Fangio’s comments during his weekly Tuesday press conference said plenty. First, when asked about Trotter possibly seeing more playing time, Fangio said: “We’re not afraid to put him in there.”

Asked to elaborate on Trotter, Fangio said he thinks the rookie has “a good future, and that future may be now. He’s got good instincts, really likes the game, is smart. He’s got a lot of good qualities.”

Later, asked if there could be a split between Burks and Trotter similar to the way the Eagles used them a few weeks ago against Dallas, Fangio said: “It could be.”

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The Eagles don’t have a perfect solution to fill in for Dean. Few good defenses have backup linebackers they can plug-and-play and not skip a beat. With Burks, the Eagles have a veteran linebacker who primarily has been a backup and a special teamer throughout his seven NFL seasons with the Packers, San Francisco 49ers, and the Eagles. With Trotter, there’s a bit more of an unknown. The rookie from St. Joseph’s Prep (and Clemson) has the familial lineage as the son of an Eagles Hall of Famer but hasn’t had many opportunities yet to show how he has developed during his rookie year. He has played mostly special teams, and done that job well, and his 28 defensive snaps until Dean missed the Week 17 game against Dallas almost exclusively were during garbage time.

How might a split work?

Fangio pointed to the Dallas game. Burks started, but Fangio said “the flow of the game” and their use on special teams led to them being a bit interchangeable.

Perhaps in a perfect world, one of them plays well enough to not come off the field, but for now, it appears the Eagles are headed toward replacing Dean with a committee approach. Fangio said he didn’t anticipate Dean’s absence would lead to calling the game any differently.

He said the Eagles will miss Dean’s “good play” most.

“He’s really played good for us this year, has gotten better and better as the season wore on,” Fangio said.

Dean wore the green dot helmet and made defensive calls on the field, a role that now belongs to Baun.

The Eagles placed Dean on injured reserve and signed wide receiver Parris Campbell to his spot on the active roster. They also signed linebacker Nicholas Morrow, who played for them last season and the Buffalo Bills this season, to the practice squad.

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The Eagles — well, mostly Saquon Barkley — thumped the Rams when the teams met in California the Sunday before Thanksgiving. But it wasn’t until the second half that the Eagles really pulled away.

The Rams moved the ball well early in the game, but timely sacks and a lost fumble kept them off the board.

“When you look at the Rams, they started the year 1-4; they had a ton of injuries,” Fangio said. “Then they lost the last game of the season when they didn’t play their regulars. So that’s 1-5. In between there, they’re 9-2.”

The Rams won five consecutive games after losing to the Eagles, including a 44-42 home victory over the Buffalo Bills.

Rams coach Sean McVay has “a great offense that he has great command of,” Fangio said, “and he’s a really good play-caller during the game. He can change gears on you at a moment’s notice, and he’s one of the top play-callers in the league for sure.”

The passing game had a pretty impotent performance in Jalen Hurts’ return to the lineup Sunday, although the Eagles didn’t need it to advance. That obviously won’t be the case moving forward.

“It wasn’t our best performance,” offensive coordinator Kellen Moore said. “Certainly every person involved would love it to be cleaner. That’s sometimes how games go, unfortunately. It’s something we’re all excited to navigate and find better answers moving forward.”

Hurts started off 6-for-6, then threw seven consecutive incomplete passes. He had an uneven day, but he also rarely had open receivers, pointing to a game plan that wasn’t prepared for what Green Bay was going to do.

“Any time you go into playoff games, people are going to stress you and challenge you on the best levels,” Moore said. “You’re playing the best defenses in this league. That’s how playoff games are. They’re going to give you different looks, different presentations.”

» READ MORE: Jalen Hurts keeps winning, or the Eagles won in spite of him; either way, is it postseason-sustainable?

Moore’s name had already popped up twice last week for open head coaching jobs with the New Orleans Saints and Jacksonville Jaguars, both of which plan to interview the Eagles offensive coordinator.

But when the Dallas Cowboys and Mike McCarthy parted ways, Moore’s name was obvious for consideration there. Moore played for the Cowboys before becoming their quarterbacks coach and later their offensive coordinator.

“Obviously I spent a lot of time there, eight years there, and so obviously you have plenty of relationships about that place,” Moore said. “I love it here. I’ve had so much fun here. It’s been a really fun process and we’re in a really special situation right now getting the chance to play this Sunday, have a chance to make a run at this thing, and that’s really all you worry about. Everything else is what it is and we’ll see where it takes you.”

» READ MORE: Kellen Moore back to the Cowboys?

Why did edge rusher Bryce Huff play only one defensive snap Sunday? “We had a good three-man rotation with the other guys, and we just stuck with it,” Fangio said. ... On the third-and-1 Tush Push formation that the Eagles threw deep out of early in the fourth quarter, Moore said: “It was a play that we’ve had in for a number of weeks. We were trying to find the right opportunity to present itself. It gave us a chance to be aggressive there. We were close, but it didn’t happen.” Hurts’ pass to A.J. Brown went incomplete, then the Eagles used the Tush Push on fourth down to convert the first down. ... The Eagles signed wide receiver Elijah Cooks to the practice squad and released wide receiver Joseph Ngata to make room.