Packer Central

With Fast Feet, Violent Finish, Edgerrin Cooper Wins Defensive Player of Week

Green Bay Packers rookie linebacker Edgerrin Cooper showed his elite athleticism with a remarkable pass breakup on Sunday against the Jaguars.

Bill Huber

Green Bay Packers linebacker Edgerrin Cooper breaks up a pass to Jacksonville Jaguars wide receiver Christian Kirk.
Green Bay Packers linebacker Edgerrin Cooper breaks up a pass to Jacksonville Jaguars wide receiver Christian Kirk. / Corey Perrine/Florida Times-Union / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images
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GREEN BAY, Wis. – On third-and-11 in the fourth quarter on Sunday, Green Bay Packers rookie Edgerrin Cooper ran 40 yards downfield to break up a pass to star receiver Christian Kirk.

How rare is it for a linebacker to make that type of play?

“I’ve done that a lot,” said linebackers coach Anthony Campanile, who played at Rutgers two decades earlier. “I feel like I’ve done that a lot in my (career).

“No, I’m kidding,” he said with a hearty laugh.

Cooper, who on back-to-back series during the fourth quarter against the Jaguars had a strip/sack and sensational pass breakup, was named the NFC’s Defensive Player of the Week on Tuesday. He’s the first Packers rookie to win Defensive Player of the Week since Clay Matthews in 2009.

Coach Matt LaFleur told Cooper at a team meeting on Wednesday morning.

“Yeah, it means something to me, but how I look at it is if I’m doing my job right, all that stuff is going to come,” Cooper said. “Just focus on what I’ve got to do, go out there, don’t make no errors, go out there and make plays and all that stuff comes toward me.”

Cooper, a second-round pick in this year’s draft, had eight tackles and two game-changing plays that powered a 30-27 victory. On the second play of the fourth quarter, a third-and-7, Cooper blitzed, eventually fought his way through the line and poked the ball free from Trevor Lawrence. The Packers cashed it in for a touchdown and a 27-17 lead.

On third down on the next series, Cooper used remarkable make-up speed to break up Lawrence’s deep shot to Kirk.

Which play did he like best?

“Oh, 100% the sack-fumble,” he said. “That’s a great feeling right there.”

It was a logical response because the turnover turned into a touchdown. However, the breakup was a remarkable athletic feat.

On third down from the 29, Cooper aligned over the center at the 30-yard line. At the snap, he took a couple steps forward to force the Jaguars’ offensive line to account for his blitz. However, he made a U-turn and gave chase to Kirk, who was about 5 yards clear at one point.

Lawrence’s pass was good but Cooper – who was called “Flash” as a kid – closed the gap between him and Kirk with every step. Kirk jumped for the ball around Green Bay’s 35 and had the ball in his hands. However, as Kirk went to the turf, Cooper knocked the ball free.

It’s been a long, long time since the Packers have had a linebacker with that type of athletic ability.

“There’s a first time for everything. That’s what I’m here for,” Cooper said.

Campanile called it a “super-athletic play,” but there was more involved than God-given speed.

“He’s really, really done a good job of the details,” Campanile said. “If you look at that play, there’s a lot of detail in the finish, so the execution of doing what he did throughout the play, certainly impressive. But the finish, that’s something that, to me, is a tremendous compliment to his effort and tenacity to finish the play the way he did.

“I just thought it was a hell of a play. Really was. Hard play to make, for sure. Athletically, it takes a special athlete to do that, but he definitely had the right mentality going in there and finishing it, trying to get the ball out.”

Campanile knew what Cooper was capable of doing. At Texas A&M, he was a game-wrecking All-American who led the SEC in tackles for losses. At the Scouting Combine, he ran his 40 in 4.51 seconds.

“In his college tape, you’re like, ‘Wow, that’s an explosive guy and super-talented,’” Campanile said.

The Packers have brought him along slowly. After playing a total of 18 snaps the first two games and 18 snaps in the third game, Cooper has played about 60 percent of the snaps each of the last three games.

The more snaps he’s played, the better he’s played. The better he’s played, the more snaps he’s been given.

“I’ve said this before, maybe I’ve said it ad nauseum in here, but eyes, feet, hands, violent finish,” Campanile said. “And when your eyes are right, your feet will be right. Your feet are right, your hands are going to be right. And then, at the end of every play, there’s got to be a violent finish. At the point of attack, that has to happen.

“Whether you’re disengaging a block, finishing a tackle, breaking a drive in zone coverage, rushing the passer or finishing downfield in coverage, there has to be a violent finish. And usually that dictates whether there’s a positive or negative outcome on the play. But I think his eyes have gotten much better and, because of that, he’s having a lot of production.”

The Packers have been searching for a stud linebacker for years.

De’Vondre Campbell was an All-Pro in 2021 but couldn’t sustain that high level of play. Matthews was a dominant outside linebacker who moonlighted at inside linebacker in 2014 and 2015. The last true off-the-ball linebacker to be a Pro Bowler was A.J. Hawk in 2010.

Cooper has that sort of potential. He’s only played about 40 percent of the snaps but he’s second on the team with 2.5 sacks and third with five tackles for losses.

Among all rookie off-the-ball linebackers, he’s second in tackles (38, including special teams), first in sacks (2.5) and tackles for losses (five), and tied for first in passes defensed (two).

On Wednesday, he earned his first NFL accolade.

“I just go out there and play,” he said. “It’s not really something I look for to happen. If it happens, great, but we’ve still got some things I want to get done with the team so I’ve just got to go from here.”

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Bill Huber
BILL HUBER

Bill Huber, who has covered the Green Bay Packers since 2008, is the publisher of Packers On SI, a Sports Illustrated channel. E-mail: packwriter2002@yahoo.com History: Huber took over Packer Central in August 2019. Twitter: https://twitter.com/BillHuberNFL Background: Huber graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater, where he played on the football team, in 1995. He worked in newspapers in Reedsburg, Wisconsin Dells and Shawano before working at The Green Bay News-Chronicle and Green Bay Press-Gazette from 1998 through 2008. With The News-Chronicle, he won several awards for his commentaries and page design. In 2008, he took over as editor of Packer Report Magazine, which was founded by Hall of Fame linebacker Ray Nitschke, and PackerReport.com. In 2019, he took over the new Sports Illustrated site Packer Central, which he has grown into one of the largest sites in the Sports Illustrated Media Group.