Eagles activate Nakobe Dean and temporarily elevate practice squad defensive tackle

The Philadelphia Eagles officially announced two roster moves ahead of their Week 6 Thursday Night Football game against the New York Giants. An overview:

Note: teams can temporarily promote practice squad players up to three times each in the regular season and an unlimited number of times in the postseason.

Let’s sort through this news on a player-by-player basis.

Dean was officially ruled questionable to play on the final injury report but previous reporting indicated the Eagles would activate him. This marks the first game Dean will play in since suffering a significant knee injury about nine full months ago.

It’ll be interesting to see how the Eagles use Dean. Vic Fangio indicated the 2024 starting off-ball linebacker won’t play a major role. It’s possible he’s only limited to special teams duty in addition to providing depth. Dean could eventually work his way into more playing time, especially if injury issues arise.

For now, Zack Baun and Jihaad Campbell remain the primary two linebacker starters.

Hall’s elevation seems directly connected to the Eagles unexpectedly adding Jalen Carter to Wednesday’s final injury report. Carter was officially listed as questionable after being added to the report with a heel injury. If Carter can’t suit up, that’s obviously a big blow to Philly’s defense. The Eagles would be left with the following defensive tackles: Jordan Davis, Moro Ojomo, Byron Young, Ty Robinson, and Hall. I’m thinking Hall will be DT4 with Robinson still not being trusted to play more than a snap or two.

The Eagles’ interior defensive line will be tasked with trying to stop tough-running rookie Cam Skattebo.

We’ll find out more about Carter’s status when Eagles-Giants inactives are announced at 6:45 PM Eastern.