The Philadelphia Eagles had a tougher-than-anticipated game against the New England Patriots in Week 1. What looked like it would be a cakewalk after opening up a 16-0 lead in the first quarter turned into a hard-fought contest in which Philadelphia came away victorious 25-20.

There is certainly a lot for the Eagles to clean up as they have a lot of new faces in the lineup and on the coaching staff. Getting off to a good start with a win is certainly nice, but the victory was a costly one.

According to Tim McManus of ESPN, the Eagles are going to be without linebacker Nakobe Dean for multiple weeks. He suffered a right foot injury in the game against the Patriots and there is a chance that he is placed on the short-term injured reserve. After the game, Dean was seen in a walking boot in the locker room.

Luckily for Dean and the Eagles, the injury isn’t considered a season-ending one. He isn’t even scheduled for surgery currently, as he just needs time on the sidelines to let the injury heel. It comes at an unfortunate time as Dean is assuming a much larger role in the team’s defensive game plan this season.

Dean played more defensive snaps on Sunday against the Patriots, 49, than he did his entire rookie season when he saw only 37 snaps. That occurred despite him exiting the field in the third quarter. He was playing well before the injury, picking up seven tackles.

With Dean sidelined, Christian Elliss stepped into the lineup in his place. The Eagles are also signing free agent linebacker Rashaan Evans, a former first-round pick of the Tennessee Titans, to their practice squad for more insurance.

The linebacker group was the most concerning for the Eagles coming into the season. They lost Kyzir White and T.J. Edwards in free agency and were relying on Dean, a third-round pick in the 2022 NFL Draft, to be elevated to a starting role.