But Baun struggled to replicate that production while in New Orleans. He spent the bulk of his time on special teams and as a reserve player on the edge, posting just a pair of sa

Rookie corners Quinyon Mitchell and Cooper DeJean serving as a shot in the arm for the Eagles' secondary has played a big part in that, but so has Baun and Nakobe Dean locking it down through the middle of the field as maybe the strongest linebacking duo the team has had in years.

A couple of weeks back when the takeaway worm started to turn for the Philadelphia defense, Eagles' linebackers Zack Baum and Nakobe Dean -- along with backups Oren Burks, Jeremiah Trotter Jr., and Ben VanSumeren -- decided to keep all the turnover balls among the group in the LB room.