The Eagles’ passenger list for Wednesday morning’s flight to Brazil was cut by one player after linebacker Devin White was ruled out for Friday’s season opener against the Green Bay Packers because of an ankle injury. He will not make the trip to South America with his teammates.

Before the 10 a.m. departure, the Eagles held a practice session at their facility, which White did not participate in. He was listed as a limited participant on Tuesday, so his condition may have worsened between the two practices.

It’s too early to speculate what this might mean for White’s future with the team, as the severity is unknown. Still, it’s probably not a good sign that after spending the entire summer trying to get the majority of first-team action at the MIKE linebacker position, he’s not even making the trip to the season opener.

The Eagles didn’t invest a lot of money in White, signing him to a one-year deal worth up to $4 million, with only $3.5 million guaranteed.

Whatever happens on that front, his absence now forces defensive coordinator Vic Fangio to call an early audible.

Nakobe Dean is coming off an excellent training camp and has probably played better than White. Both were listed first on the team’s MIKE spot rankings, so it’s clear that Dean will start against the Green Bay Packers.

Last year, Dean was injured early and had to sit out after just five games because of foot surgery. If he stays healthy, he may be able to have the season many expected of him when he came out of Georgia in the 2022 draft.

“I want to play,” Dean said. “And I want to be the first to play. But I can’t control that. The only thing I can control is what I do every day here, working hard and getting better and better. I feel like I had the camp I was supposed to have.”

Zack Baun is expected to start at outside linebacker opposite Dean.

The linebacker tier behind Dean and Baun includes rookie Jeremiah Trotter, Jr., veteran Oren Burks and second-year player Ben VanSumeren. Brandon Smith is the only linebacker on the practice squad, so he may be ranked higher for the opening game against the Green Bay Packers.

Defensive coordinator Vic Fangio said earlier this week that he expects the Packers to pose a big challenge for his linebackers.

“They have a really good play-action game where the linebackers are the ones who are being targeted primarily, so it’s a big challenge,” he said. “We didn’t see that type of play-action a lot in training camp, so it’s definitely a challenge.”

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