Packers’ Edgerrin Cooper Provides Update on Status vs. Seahawks

Packers rookie linebacker Edgerrin Cooper has missed the last three games with a hamstring injury. Will he return for Sunday night at the Seahawks?

Green Bay Packers linebacker Edgerrin Cooper (56) reacts after making a tackle against the Arizona Cardinals. / Tork Mason / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

GREEN BAY, Wis. – Green Bay Packers linebacker Edgerrin Cooper, who was inactive the last three weeks with a hamstring injury, practiced for a second consecutive day on Thursday.

Will he play against the Seattle Seahawks on Sunday night?

“Yeah, that’s the plan,” Cooper said after practice.

Cooper was limited participation for both practices this week. With one more practice to go on Friday, his status for Sunday will depend on whether the team is sure he has fully healed from an injury in which an aggravation would mean another couple games on the sideline.

“It’s an injury you have to be careful about,” Cooper said, “but I’m just trying my best to get back as soon as possible and come back and be there for my teammates.”

Cooper had emerged as an impact player before the injury. He was the NFC Defensive Player of the Week against Jacksonville after a sack/strip and downfield pass breakup, two pivotal plays in a narrow victory.

Even with 34.4 percent playing time, he’s sixth on the team with 47 tackles, tied for fourth with 2.5 sacks and tied for fifth with five tackles for losses.

“He loves to work,” position coach Anthony Campanile said last week. “I think his knowledge in everything and the system, you probably saw that as he was progressing and playing more and more, playing fast.

“He’s got obviously an elite skill-set athletically, but I think his knowledge of the system is starting to shine through for him. I think his eyes have gotten much better, he’s playing fast (and) it’s putting him in position to make plays. He’s had some improvement and, like everybody else, I know he’s got a lot left out there that he wants to get better at, so excited for him to keep progressing.”

Cooper was an All-American last year at Texas A&M. He was a second-round pick and the first linebacker selected in this year’s draft.

“I feel like I was in a decent spot, but I always set the standard high for myself and I always have more to improve,” he said.

Cooper played 36 snaps in his first three games but at least 38 in each of his last five, including 51 against Chicago after the bye.

Then, he injured his hamstring, which derailed the momentum he had built.

“Yeah, it always sucks sitting out, sitting there, not being able to go out there and do what you want to do and do what you’re here for – to make a living out of it,” Cooper said. “So, it's just another bump in the road.”

Perhaps that bump in the road is behind him.

“Real good, real good,” he said when asked how he feels. “Ready to roll, ready to roll.”

It won’t be up to Cooper on whether he’ll return to the lineup on Sunday night, but it would provide a lift against a dangerous Seattle offense.

“It means a lot,” he said. “It's been a long, long three weeks. I'm just ready to go out there and just play as hard as I can and make plays.”

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