Injuries are a part of football, but that won’t make the Green Bay Packers feel any better after rookie linebacker Edgerrin Cooper suffered a knock during a training camp practice.
Head coach Matt LaFleur spoke with reporters at camp on August 1. During his presser, he revealed that Cooper had suffered a groin injury during practice. The Packers head coach mentioned that the injury forced the rookie linebacker out of practice.
Fortunately, LaFleur described the groin injury as “little”, so there’s hope that Cooper should return soon enough to be ready for the team’s preseason opener against the Cleveland Browns on August 10.
Edgerrin Cooper Could Be a Dominant Rookie
An injury isn’t the start to training camp that Cooper was hoping for. However, his college film shows a player that could be a breakout rookie in 2024.
Cooper had a breakout 2023 campaign with the Texas A&M Aggies after a modest start to his college career. He finished the year with 84 tackles, 17 tackles for loss, eight sacks, and two forced fumbles. That production helped him earn consensus All-American honors and a first-team All-SEC selection.
A 6-foot-2, 230-pound linebacker, Cooper consistently makes winning plays with his play speed. He plays with a relentless motor and wiry strength to stonewall blockers and ball carriers alike. His impressive movement skills made him a versatile and dangerous defensive weapon operating as a spy, off the edge, in coverage, or anywhere Texas A&M asked him to play.
The Packers took Cooper in the second round of this year’s draft because of that skill set. He’s already having a good impression on his new teammates, with fellow linebacker Quay Walker speaking glowingly about the rookie.
“He’s showing flashes, getting downhill, playing, flying around,” Walker told Packers.com. “I just tell him, ‘Don’t do no thinking, bro. Just fly around. If you mess up, it is what it is. You a rookie. Just take what you can learn … and go from there.’”
With that kind of first impression, it’s easy to see what kind of impact Cooper could have in Green Bay.
Green Bay’s Biggest Rookie Surprise
While Cooper has shown flashes in offseason workouts, the rookie star of training camp so far has been Evan Williams.
A fourth-round pick, Williams was a key part of the Oregon Ducks defense in 2023. He earned second-team All-Pac-12 honors, flying around the field and attacking downhill to make plays on ball carriers.
That aggressive and instinctive play style has carried over into training camp. He’s even cracked the starting lineup on certain days of practice. He’s made the most of those opportunities, coming away with interceptions and plays on the ball.
“I feel like I’m progressing every day, truthfully,” Williams explained to reporters. “Every day, I’m just trying to learn a little bit more about how our coordinator thinks and what type of calls he’s going to be making in certain situations.”
New defensive coordinator Jeff Hafley has a defensive identity focused on attacking downhill. That could make Williams a home-run draft pick given his play style in college and the flashes that he’s shown so far at training camp.
