Eagles training camp: Nakobe Dean placed on PUP, Jihaad Campbell returns

New York Times

6 days ago

PHILADELPHIA — The first day of Eagles training camp was the manifestation of major developments, presumed and unpredicted.
General manager Howie Roseman disclosed the first before even beginning his first news conference of the season: Nakobe Dean will begin training camp on the physically unable to perform list. If the Eagles needed more than rhetoric to remind themselves that 2025 will be its own challenge, Dean's official absence supplies something tangible.
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Dean's sidelining isn't a surprise. Defensive coordinator Vic Fangio said in OTAs that his starting middle linebacker wouldn't 'be back any time soon' from the torn patellar tendon Dean suffered in the NFC wild-card round. A league source at the time said Dean could miss the start of the 2025 season while recovering. That the Eagles traded up a spot to draft Jihaad Campbell No. 31 overall solidified how the organization felt about its depth at the position entering the title defense. The lingering question was who would fill in for Dean — and for how long?
A possible answer emerged Tuesday morning: Campbell practiced fully for the first time in Philadelphia. His return was ahead of schedule. The first-round pick out of Alabama was limited during OTAs while recovering from offseason labrum surgery, and Fangio said at the time that Campbell wouldn't 'hit the practice field' until 'sometime in August.' But there Campbell was, helmet donned, slapping dummies to the turf one arm at a time with a ferocity that suggests his left shoulder is in pristine condition.
The benefit of Campbell's availability is evident. The former comparison to Cooper DeJean's timeline no longer applies. DeJean, who debuted as the team's starting nickel cornerback in Week 6 of last season, didn't return from his offseason hamstring injury until Aug. 13. Campbell was officially listed as limited in the team's practice report, but there didn't appear to be any restrictions for a phase that doesn't involve full contact. The rookie linebacker participated with the second-team defense in both seven-on-seven and 11-on-11 drills. The hurdles in the way of Campbell potentially starting in Week 1 aren't so much health-based anymore. Can he learn Fangio's defense? Can he be more effective than Jeremiah Trotter Jr., the second-year linebacker who played opposite Zack Baun with the first-team defense on Tuesday?
'You're gonna see him out there today,' Eagles coach Nick Sirianni said of Campbell. 'It'll be fun to get him out there and start working with him. He looked like he had a great summer — excited to have him out there working.'
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Campbell's 6-foot-3, 235 frame is considerable for a rookie. The strength and quickness that made him a top-10 player on the Eagles draft board set him apart during individual drills. In a drill that featured four standing dummies, Campbell slammed each one to the ground with alternating arms, then swarmed an assistant coach in a simulation of tearing a football loose from a quarterback. He later looked fluid in both coverage and run defense — although this first phase of training camp doesn't feature full pads or full contact. He spent the entirety of seven-on-seven and 11-on-11 drills at off-ball linebacker, but Campbell also worked with Jeremiah Washburn — who coaches the team's edge rushers — during Tuesday's practice.
Roseman has resisted putting Campbell's role in a box from the start. The Eagles like Campbell's skills as a pass rusher, and it behooves them to start developing those skills even if Campbell is at first a fill-in for Dean. Even if Campbell eventually starts at off-ball linebacker, his distinct skills warrant a different usage of that position. The Eagles have resisted player comps, but it's not hard to imagine them eventually deploying Campbell in a versatile role in the likes of Micah Parsons and Andrew Van Ginkel. Tuesday was only the first view of what Campbell will become.
Fangio disclosed in June his plan to keep DeJean at nickel and experiment shifting him to either cornerback or safety in base packages. DeJean only shifted to cornerback in base during OTAs. On Tuesday, DeJean only shifted to safety in base. It was the first sighting of the former second-round pick in that role.
It's too soon to grade his play at the position. He was not challenged in the passing game, and the run game can't be properly evaluated until the Eagles are in full pads and conducting live drills. But Fangio is following through on his plan to keep one of his best defenders on the field at all times. DeJean played plenty in 2024; the Eagles played nickel at the league's third-highest rate last season (80.5 percent), according to TruMedia. It's a trend that will likely continue. But 19.5 percent is too many snaps for Fangio to not feature the defender who broke Super Bowl LIX open with a pick-six against Patrick Mahomes.
Fangio has three preseason games to find an appropriate arrangement for DeJean. It's possible Fangio still experiments with DeJean at cornerback, the position he played as a unanimous All-American at Iowa before shifting to the slot in Philadelphia. The DeJean Experiment is now in full swing.
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During OTAs, I wrote about the complications of DeJean's versatility. As I wrote then, the issue isn't what DeJean's secondary position will be. It's what his primary position remains to be and what Fangio's experimentation says about the strength of the rest of the secondary. It's arguable DeJean is the team's second-best cornerback; cornerbacks wouldn't be leaving the field in base packages if he weren't. So, it's noteworthy to monitor the position battle at the vacancy the Eagles created by releasing Darius Slay within a series of cost-cutting moves.
Kelee Ringo opened team drills as the first-team cornerback opposite Quinyon Mitchell. He shifted to second-team cornerback during seven-on-sevens behind veteran signee Adoree' Jackson. Ringo had a rough day in coverage. During seven-on-seven drills with the second-team squads, backup quarterback Tanner McKee struck Terrace Marshall deep along the right sideline with Ringo giving chase. Later, in a fourth-and-5 situational drill featuring the first-team units, Jalen Hurts hit A.J. Brown down the left sideline with Ringo grappling for the football. McKee hit Marshall again on a medium-range throw to the sideline against Ringo in a subsequent team drill.
One day won't define the position battle at cornerback. But Ringo, a fourth-round pick in 2023 who has the physical tools to become a starter in the NFL, must soon prove himself to be reliable. Mitchell remains dynamic. Hurts challenged the second-year cornerback on his fifth throw of seven-on-seven drills, unfurling a deep ball to Brown along the right sideline. Mitchell dislodged the ball just yards away from the pylon. Mitchell later defended a pass intended for Marshall during team drills at the end of practice.
The defense's return to dominance in 2024 can be largely attributed to the secondary's dramatic improvement. The Eagles went from surrendering the league's third-most passes of 15-plus yards in 2023 to the fewest in 2024, per TruMedia. Breaches like those Ringo surrendered on Tuesday are what will lead the unit to regress.
Starting defensive tackle Jalen Carter and recently acquired guard Kenyon Green did not practice Tuesday. Carter has a shoulder injury, according to the team; Green, a knee injury. Roseman had said Dean would be the only player not on the field. But it's my understanding that the Eagles are not concerned about Carter's or Green's status.
Carter's role on the team is substantial. A runner-up for defensive rookie of the year in 2023, a first-time Pro Bowler in 2024, Carter could establish himself as one of the NFL's best interior defensive linemen in 2025. The Eagles spent the offseason performing maintenance on their budget, partly in preparation for the contract extension they'll be cleared to negotiate with Carter once his third league season ends.
Starting center Cam Jurgens returned to practice in a limited capacity on Tuesday. He'd missed OTAs while recovering from a procedure on the back injury that plagued him throughout the postseason. Jurgens fielded a low snap to Hurts during the second set of 11-on-11 drills, but he otherwise operated with apparent ease. Backup Brett Toth gave Jurgens a rest during a later period of 11-on-11 drills, but Jurgens returned the following series.
Sydney Brown and second-round pick Drew Mukuba shared first-team snaps at safety opposite Reed Blankenship. Brown was deployed first and appeared to accumulate a majority share. Fangio has been reserved in his previous public assessments of Brown. The seven-time defensive coordinator noted at the time that he hadn't seen much of Brown at safety. Brown started in six games as a rookie under former defensive coordinator Sean Desai, and he missed the subsequent offseason recovering from an ACL injury that would sideline him until Week 7 of the 2024 season.
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Still, it'd be presumptuous to say that Brown being deployed first in Tuesday's practice suggests he's the Week 1 starter. Rookies rarely begin training camp with first-team reps. That the Eagles picked Mukuba with the 64th pick demonstrated both the urgency they felt about the vacancy the C.J. Gardner-Johnson trade created and the value they saw in Mukuba. The Eagles last chose a safety in the second round in 2011, when drafting Jaiquawn Jarrett at No. 54.
At the very least, an early depth chart was revealed. Brown is, for now, the first safety out, with Mukuba rotating in. Tristin McCollum, whom Fangio notably included in the mix during OTAs, spent Tuesday with the second-team squad opposite either Brown or Mukuba.
Tyler Steen started at right guard: This is no surprise. Steen was the first-team right guard during OTAs. He is the front-runner to start for yet a second summer. It is his best opportunity yet. The second-team offensive line was as follows: LT Kendall Lamm, LG Brett Toth, C Drew Kendall, RG Matt Pryor, RT Darian Kinnard. The third-team offensive line: LT Myles Hinton, LG Laekin Vakalahi, C Kendall, RG Trevor Keegan, RT Cameron Williams.
Jordan Davis' stamina was notable: I don't think I saw Davis leave the field once during 11-on-11 drills with the first-team defense. Davis openly discussed his conditioning for the third straight offseason during OTAs. He said all the right things. But that time, he was backed by Fangio's confirmation. Fangio said he thought Davis was 'in the best shape that he's ever been in.' After a summer of further conditioning, Davis' stamina is now notable on the field. As with Carter, Fangio will likely keep Davis on the field as long as his endurance and efficiency allow. He played 37 percent of the defense's snaps during the 2024 regular season, 21 percent during the playoffs. Fangio's previous nose tackles had a higher range, between a 45 and 53 percent snap share. Can Davis reach that bar?
Quote of the day, (Jordan Mailata on defending their Super Bowl title): 'We're not defending nothing. I hate hearing that. I think it (equates) to a Super Bowl hangover. And, yeah, I'm not trying to be hungover, man.'
(Top photo of Jihaad Campbell, left, and Zack Baun: Kyle Ross / Imagn Images)