PHILADELPHIA – The genesis of the Eagles’ 28-23 victory over Jacksonville on Sunday took root in early August at Lincoln Financial Field.

That’s when Nakobe Dean’s ability in space was tested by the crafty Kenny Gainwell during Philadelphia’s only open practice of the summer.

Those who were there saw Gainwell perform an Allen Iverson-like crossover move on Dean before the RB and his good friend Jalen Hurts doubled down with a stuttering wheel route that caught Dean off guard.

Dean did what he’s supposed to do with practice and learned from adversity.

Fast forward to Sunday and Doug Pederson fired for an improbable upset after trailing 22-0, putting the ball in the hands of Trevor Lawrence and D’Ernest Johnson against Dean in the gap with the Jags at the Jags’ 13-yard line. the Eagles.

To be fair, it was a good bet.

Lawrence’s shot went wide, wide and too far in for Johnson, who had trouble following the poorly thrown ball. Dean, on the other hand, was present and highlighted the ball as if he were the offensive player essentially leaving the game with the help of a victory formation.

“The fact that everyone came there and congratulated me, it was good. “It was good to finish the game,” Dean said, “I mean, I wasn’t doing much else that game, I don’t know how many tackles I had that game.”

It certainly wasn’t a typical game for Dean, a player who is generally difficult to handle and has some issues with spacing. He finished with only two assisted tackles but had two pass deflections and the INT.

“Other guys on defense had great games. I know Zack (Baun) went crazy, Coop (Cooper DeJean) was another big stop on fourth and short,” Dean said. “So, you know, a lot of guys were flying on defense and we were making a lot of plays. .”

Dean and Baun teamed up for a fumble in the Week 8 win at Cincinnati and decided to keep all the fumbles in the linebacker room so that’s where Dean’s game winner will reside.

Dean, the quarterback and green point of the Eagles defense, was aware that Jacksonville could attack him that way.

“It’s a play I knew they had,” Dean said. “They have good running backs that can run good routes. I know Saquon (Barkley) scored early in the game, a play that was kind of like that from the backfield: a stutter and that’s it. They beat me in training camp against Kenny Gainwell.

“I had seen it quite a bit. I remember him from college, they beat me a couple of times in practice too. So I was kind of waiting. It was an opportune moment, it was a high red zone. “They made the right read and I just had to make one play.”

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