Darius Slay, Nakobe Dean injury updates: Latest news on Eagles defenders after exiting in second quarter vs. Packers

The Eagles' defense had a strong performance in the first half vs. the Packers in Sunday's playoff game, holding Jordan Love and the Green Bay offense scoreless.

Philadelphia's defense has been among the NFL's best all season, finishing the regular season first in total yards allowed per game (278.4) and first in passing yards allowed per game (174.2).  

On a defense full of talented players, two key pieces went down with injuries against the Packers in the first half, though: cornerback Darius Slay and linebacker Nakobe Dean.

Here are the latest updates on both Slay and Dean, two significant contributors to the Eagles' defense.

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Nakobe Dean injury updates

Shortly after Darius Slay left the game, Nakobe Dean remained on the field for some time as well. After making his sixth tackle of the matchup, trainers came out to look at Dean.

The linebacker was carted to the locker room soon after, and Philadelphia quickly ruled him out with a knee injury.

Eagles linebacker Nakobe Dean was carted off the field after suffering an apparent injury. pic.twitter.com/lvsSlPThKk

Alongside Zack Baun, who also had an interception vs. Love in the first half, Dean has played a significant role at linebacker for the Eagles this season.

Philadelphia began to use Oren Burks, a seven-year veteran with over 200 career tackles, to fill Dean's role as the first half came to an end, and the green dot transfers over to Dean. The green dot signifies who will be relaying the calls to the rest of the defense.

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Darius Slay injury updates

Slay, long considered one of the NFL's true lockdown corners, didn't have a dominant regular season like usual at age 34 in terms of counting stats. In 14 games, he totaled 49 tackles, one forced fumble, 13 passes defended and no interceptions. But in the wild-card matchup vs. Green Bay, Slay came up huge.

Early in the second quarter, Slay picked off Love on a deep pass intended for Dontayvion Wicks.

However, not too long after the interception, Slay went back to the locker room with an apparent elbow injury. 

Darius Slay is headed to the locker room pic.twitter.com/X9llCTwdtv

Slay was ruled questionable to return by the Eagles, but he came back to the sideline after a few minutes.

He made his return to the field before the first half concluded, first being fitted with a compression sleeve on his left elbow, per ESPN's Tim McManus.