GREEN BAY, Wis. – “Coop brings a lot of juice,” defensive coordinator Jeff Hafley said last week about Green Bay Packers rookie linebacker Edgerrin Cooper.
The Packers squeezed more out of Cooper against the Arizona Cardinals. Not only did the second-round pick play a career-high 38 snaps, he played the second-most snaps among Green Bay’s linebackers and more than veteran Isaiah McDuffie for the first time.
It could be a sign of things to come for Cooper entering Sunday’s home game against the Houston Texans.
Cooper is in the middle of one of those cycles that coaches love to see from young players. The more he plays, the better he performs. The better he performs, the more snaps he plays. That’s why his weekly snap count has gone from 11, seven and 18 in Weeks 1 through 3 to 21, 30 and 38 in Weeks 4 through 6.
“100 percent,” Cooper agreed. “I feel like these last two, three weeks, I was able to settle in and just be myself and play and relax and play what I see. …
“Just being out there more and getting more snaps and [the coaches] just seeing what I’ve been able to do. Just not having a mentality of trying to be too perfect and just trusting my eyes.”
An All-American last season at Texas A&M, Cooper is a superb athlete, which is why he was the first linebacker off the board in this year’s draft. He missed the entire preseason with a hip injury but has been coming on strong, his talent too obvious to keep off the field.
As the trust in his eyes and the trust from the coaches continues to growa – a maturation process that stems from comfort in the defense and knowledge of how offenses want to attack – he’s made more and more plays.
“He’s starting to understand what he’s doing,” Hafley said after Thursday’s practice. “He’s practicing more, he’s stayed healthy, he’s practicing better and he’s proving to us and his teammates that he knows what he’s doing and he can execute at a high level. The more he does that and the better he plays, the more he’ll play.”
Cooper had seven tackles last week, moving into a tie for fifth on the team with 23 tackles while ranking 16th in defensive snaps.
Viewed from more of an apples-to-oranges way, Cooper is averaging 5.43 snaps per tackle. That’s the best among the linebackers, with Eric Wilson at 6.17, Quay Walker at 7.65 and McDuffie at 7.84.
The NFL’s leading tackler, Raiders linebacker Robert Spillane, averages 6.21 snaps per tackle.
“I think he’s coming along,” coach Matt LaFleur said. “He’s getting better and better each and every week. You always see him make splash plays. There’s still some mental mistakes that we’ve got to clean up, whether it’s misalignments or whatnot, but you tend to go through that with younger players, but I’m excited about the growth that we’ve seen over the course of the last few weeks and anticipate him becoming a better player the more reps he gets.”
What was startling in college was his big-play production as an off-the-ball linebacker. Cooper led the SEC in tackles for losses last season. That’s usually the domain of the pass rushers.
With 1.5 sacks, two tackles for losses and three quarterback hits, Cooper has shown that type of skill to start his career. According to Pro Football Focus, 68 off-the-ball linebackers have had at least 12 pass-rushing snaps. (That’s Cooper’s number.) Cooper ranks fourth in PFF’s pass-rush productivity, which measures sacks, hits and hurries per pass-rushing opportunity because of Corvette-like acceleration and ability to bend like the elite edge rushers.
“It’s just something I do well, something I bring to the table,” he said, “and I feel like that’s what they’re trying to use me and put me in more positions to blitz more and rush the passer.”
The more Cooper can handle, the more roles he’ll be given, just like the rest of the team’s promising rookies on defense.
“He’s another guy when you watch his skill-set, I think there’s places where we can put him that are a little bit different, too, because I think he has a unique skill-set,” Hafley said. “There’s some things that can do on different downs-and-distances that I think he gives us a pretty good chance to have success.
“Again, you don’t want to rush some of these rookies into having to learn too much because then they’re not going to be good. You’ve got to be careful there, too.”
Cooper and safeties Javon Bullard and Evan Williams have been instant contributors to a young and improving defense. Cooper and Williams rank among the NFL’s best rookies, according to PFF, and all three should be key factors for a potential playoff run.
“We came in and we came into play and tried to make an impact. Every time we get our opportunity on the field, just come in and make plays and do our assignments. That’s it.”
