Not only is Georgia dealing with a few injuries of their own right now, but so too are some of their top former players in the NFL. The one Bulldog who has been dealing with the most impactful injury is linebacker Nakobe Dean.
Dean suffered an injury to his patellar tendon in his knee during the Philadelphia Eagles playoff run last season. He has not made a return to the field yet since suffering this injury, but he did step foot on the Eagles' practice field for the first time this week.
This gave Philadelphia and Georgia fans alike a lot of hope that he would be good to go for their next game this weekend. Unfortunately that is not the case as he has been officially ruled out for Philadelphia's game against the Denver Broncos on Sunday.
Nakobe Dean ruled out for Philadelphia's game against Denver
Dean is one of the top players on Philadelphia's defense that is littered with former Bulldogs. Last season Dean tallied 128 tackles and three sacks in the 15 games he played in. He also added one forced fumble, two fumble recoveries and the one and only interception of his career as well.
So it's clear how important his return is to Philly, but the Eagles likely are keeping him out for a little longer just to be safe. And this move makes a lot more sense when looking at Philadelphia's upcoming schedule as they have a short week next week as they play on Thursday night. So playing Dean in two games within five days after this significant of an injury would have been a terrible idea.
There is a good chance though that Dean will make his return next Thursday when the Eagles travel to New York to take on the Giants on Thursday Night Football. And Eagles and Georgia fans will be very excited to see one of the NFL's top linebackers take the field once again.