One of the surprise contributors in the Green Bay Packers’ season-opening loss to the Philadelphia Eagles was rookie linebacker Edgerrin Cooper.
Not because of a lack of talent. Indeed, the Texas A&M All-American was the first linebacker selected in the 2024 NFL Draft. However, he missed about three weeks of training camp with a hip injury and sat out the entire preseason. With solid play by veterans Isaiah McDuffie and Eric Wilson throughout camp, Wilson’s path to playing time seemed to be blocked.
Instead, the Packers ultimately decided to bet on talent over experience.
And will continue to do so.
“I saw a guy respond,” defensive coordinator Jeff Hafley said on Thursday. “I saw Coop as a guy who was injured for almost all of training camp and, unfortunately, couldn’t play in a preseason game and he just has minimal practice reps.”
However, Hafley continued, “You’ve got a really talented young player who you’re counting on to be a really good player this season and you’ve got to play him.”
It took a while for the team to come to that conclusion.
Cooper was partially to blame for Saquon Barkley’s 12-yard touchdown run in the second quarter because he lined up incorrectly, which helped create an enormous chasm for Barkley to run untouched into the end zone.
That mistake put him on the bench.
“What happened,” coach Matt LaFleur said on Thursday, “is he went out there early, we had a misalignment, they scored a touchdown, and that hurt his ability to get out onto the field until we were like, ‘All right. Hey. He’s got to go out there.’ And he started making plays.”
In 11 defensive snaps, Cooper recorded three tackles and a pass defensed.
“It felt so good,” Cooper said. “It was the best feeling ever to be able to go out there and produce what I can do.”
Two plays encapsulated everything the Packers liked about him following a sensational final season at Texas A&M in which he led the SEC in tackles for losses.
Early in the third quarter, the Eagles handed the ball to Barkley. Starting from about 6 yards off the line of scrimmage, Cooper shot forward and tripped up Barkley for a gain of 2.
“That was my ‘Welcome to the NFL’ feeling,” Cooper said. “Hey, we’re here. Let’s keep doing it, let’s keep being consistent and doing what I can do.”
Later, on the first play of the fourth quarter, Cooper went from 0 to 60 in about 2 steps, raced past the right tackle and batted down a receiver screen. On a second-and-1 on the Eagles’ final drive, he showed his contact power by stopping Barkley after a gain of 2.
“I was really excited,” he said. “I’ve been itching to go out there for a long time. So, being able to get out there is a great confidence builder to get everything settled in.”
Throw in an excellent downfield coverage snap on one of the Eagles’ tight ends and a tackle on Green Bay’s first kickoff, and it was a big-time debut for a player without a preseason.
“It was a real challenge,” Cooper said. “It’s hard to play football without actually being able to practice and going out there and getting reps and seeing what I see and preparing for each team. Coming back was one of the best things that could happen. Just a challenge I had to attack.”
Cooper’s play whetted the team’s appetite. The Packers know he’ll make mistakes – better communication by his teammates would have prevented the breakdown on Barkley’s touchdown – but the upside he showed in Brazil was too great to ignore.
“Hopefully the guys around him and (the) coaches, we can get him to know exactly what he’s doing and get him caught up,” Hafley said. “But you saw what he was doing. I’m glad we put him back in because he’s a strong guy, he’s explosive, he can tackle, he’s fast.
“We just got to get him caught up to speed. We’re not getting that time back – it’s not happening – so the time is now in limited practice reps in the week, and then we’ve got to get him real, live game reps and we’ve got to all rally around him when he’s in and he has to do his job. He’s got to study, he’s got to be on it in practice and then he’s got to know what he’s doing in the game. But he gives us an explosive player that needs to play.”
After an impressive debut, Cooper figures to get more opportunities against the Colts on Sunday. Against the Eagles, Quay Walker and Isaiah McDuffie were the every-down linebackers and Wilson and Cooper essentially split reps in base.
Walker had an excellent training camp, thriving in Hafley’s system and rekindling his breakout season with the Vikings in 2020. While Wilson, who will turn 30 in a couple weeks, might be the better player today, the future is Cooper.
That future might be now with his first game at Lambeau Field just days away.
“I’m real fired up,” he said. “I’m ready to see the environment and see what Green Bay brings.”
