Eagles getting used to hearing Nakobe Dean in the huddle

Nakobe Dean is from Horn Lake, Mississippi, and he sounds like it.

When the 22-year-old linebacker speaks, he does so with an unmistakably specific southern drawl that can take a bit of getting used to.

“Coming from Mississippi, I got a little bit of different lingo,” Dean said this week, “different tone in my voice.”

It’s a voice the rest of his Eagles’ defensive teammates are familiarizing themselves with at training camp this summer. Because they’re going to hear a lot of it in this upcoming season as Dean takes over the role of MIKE linebacker in Sean Desai’s defense.

There haven’t been any real communication issues but that doesn’t mean Dean’s accent hasn’t been a topic of conversation.

“I think they just be making fun of me,” Dean said with a smile. “Fletch (Cox) being the main one because he’s from Mississippi so he knows what I’m saying. So he’s going to make fun of me regardless. It’s all good now. It was more so (an issue) last year.”

When Avonte Maddox was asked about Dean’s Mississippi drawl, the Eagles’ veteran nickel cornerback couldn’t stop giggling.

“Yeah, but I understand him,” Maddox said through laughter. “I’ve been around him. He be in the locker room, we talk all the time. … I definitely understand him and he gets it out. And even if it don’t come out and get heard the same way, I feel like I understand him. So we good.”

Dean was a third-round pick last spring and considered by many to be a steal of the draft. But he was firmly behind T.J. Edwards and Kyzir White on the depth chart and ended up playing a grand total of 34 defensive snaps as a rookie.

Despite basically having a redshirt season, Dean is expected to have a major role in Year 2 after both Edwards and White left in free agency. There appears to be a competition between Nicholas Morrow and Christian Elliss for the weakside linebacker spot, but no matter who wins that gig, Dean is the man in the middle.

Which means he has the green dot and is the main on-field communicator for the defense. That role belonged to Edwards for most of the last three seasons.

“That’s the biggest thing, get used to hearing that voice,” Cox said. “It’s a new voice, obviously. I heard T.J.’s voice for years so just getting used to hearing Nakobe and he’s a little more soft-spoken so you gotta kind of pay attention until you get used to it.”

But his teammates are getting used to it. And plenty of them seem genuinely happy for Dean to get his shot.

“I’m excited for him,” Josh Sweat said. “He’s already taken control from the calls and just knowing everything and getting everybody on the same page. You can tell he’s done it before, you can tell he’s a leader. He’s going to do big things and he’s going to be big for us. But he knows he’s ready.”

Of course, like Sweat alluded to, this role is nothing new for Dean. He was the defensive leader on Georgia’s National Championship team a couple years ago. Not only was he an exceptional player at the college level, but his leadership was highly regarded.

With the Eagles, there are plenty of fellow Bulldogs who can vouch for Dean’s ability to run a defense on the field.

“Same old Kobe. That’s the Kobe I know,” said nose tackle Jordan Davis, who was teammates with Dean at Georgia and who was also drafted by the Eagles last year. “Just seeing him take over the huddle and commanding the defense, he’s like the QB of the defense. Everything he say, go. It’s nothing new to me. 

“It’s just good to see him, we’re back out there getting a good feel for each other. And it’s the time to do it. This is where the team really starts to gel and connect together and then that’s when it’ll carry us on into the season.”

While the Eagles have a new defensive coordinator this season, Dean didn’t seem too worried about learning the scheme. “Defense is defense,” he said.

What Dean did talk about this week was learning how to play with his teammates. He wants to understand how the defensive backs play and how the linemen in front of him are going to move. That takes some time.

Really, it’s all about growing confidence. Dean wants his teammates to feel confident in his ability to get the calls in and confident in his ability as a player. And he wants to feel confident knowing what the guys in front and behind him are going to do on a given play.

“It takes a few practices to get that comfort,” he said. “I feel like we’re definitely getting there, if we’re not already there.”

It seems like Dean is fitting into his role as the MIKE nicely, but it’s important to temper expectations. While Dean was a great player at the college level, we simply haven’t seen him do it in the NFL.

Dean might be great; who knows? But he also hasn’t had the splashiest start training camp either. Maybe we’ll see more now that the pads are on and even more when joint practices and preseason games begin.

At least Dean seems to have taken to Desai. When asked what stands out most about his new DC, Dean pointed to Desai’s attention to detail. He gave an example, saying that if you take the wrong first step and knock a pass away, OK. But if you take the correct first step, you could have intercepted it.

All the attention to detail might seem tedious, but Dean appreciates it.

“He won’t allow us to have a death by inches,” Dean said. “He won’t let something little that might not seem like it matters or might not seem like is pertinent at the time, he won’t let it slide. Because if he lets that slide, something else slides and then something else slides. It’s like a slippery slope. He holds us accountable and he expects everybody else to hold each other accountable.”

It’s important that Dean and Desai see things similarly. Because in a way, as the MIKE linebacker, Dean is almost an extension of the coaching staff on the field.

Dean’s voice is an important one, even if it takes a bit of getting used to.

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