Paul Bretl | 11/22/2024
GREEN BAY, Wis. — The Packers are going to find themselves a bit shorthanded at the linebacker position on Sunday against the San Francisco 49ers, with rookie Edgerrin Cooper ruled out.
Cooper tweaked his hamstring during Wednesday’s practice and then was a non-participant on Thursday and Friday.
“I think there’s obviously concern going into next week, being a short week,” said LaFleur on Friday, “but I don’t think it’s going to be too long-term.”
Through the early portion of the season, there was an easing process for Cooper. For one, making the leap from college to the NFL is going to come with a learning curve for any rookie, but that learning curve can be elongated when there is missed time. Unfortunately, the current injury that Cooper is working through isn’t the first that he’s had to navigate.
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Cooper didn’t play in the preseason due to injury, and even though he was available on Sundays in the regular season, early on, he was frequently a limited participant in practice–again limiting the number of practice reps he got each week. Knowing the playbook is one thing, but being able to execute on your responsibilities during a game when everything is moving at light speed is a completely different task.
However, as Cooper got healthy and got more acclimated to the playbook and speed at the NFL level, his playing time continued to increase. Over the last five games, Cooper is averaging 40 snaps per game, which includes playing a season-high of 51 against Chicago.
“He had a little bit of a setback in training camp,” said GM Brian Gutekunst during the bye week, “which always for a young player is tough when you miss that much time on the field. But just like he was in college, when you put him on the field, he makes dynamic plays.
“He’s still working through some of the details and intricacies of our defense but, when he’s out there, you feel him. He certainly brings an element of speed on that field and he’s a natural playmaker.”
Cooper would run a 4.51-second 40-yard dash during the pre-draft process this past Spring–an incredibly fast time for a linebacker, and that’s helped him generate several splash plays. With that speed comes versatility and that provides Hafley quite a bit of flexibility when it comes to the game-plan he puts together and what he asks of Cooper, whether that be sending him as a blitzer or how he’s utilized in coverage.
With that skill set, there is also a positive trickle-down effect that it creates within the defense, with Cooper’s speed and ability to operate in space then impacting what is asked of other position groups, specifically the defensive backs, because he can cover a lot of ground.
“He provides a lot of speed for us, especially on the second level,” said Xavier McKinney following the Jacksonville game. “He can cover. He can rush. It allows us to do a whole lot more on the back end. Just mix in different calls and he’s been a great addition for us. Obviously, he’s still learning and going through bumps here and there, but that’s why guys like me, I’m here, and other leaders on this defense. That’s why we’re here to get him through that. But he’s been good overall.”
Without Cooper, Quay Walker will continue to be the Mike linebacker for this defense. Even if Cooper were healthy, my guess is that there wasn’t going to be any changes to Walker’s role, even after a sub-par performance against Chicago.
When the Packers’ are in their base defense, we will see Isaiah McDuffie as the Sam linebacker and Eric Wilson–who has made some big plays of his own–as the Will linebacker. I would anticipate that when in nickel and only two linebackers are on the field, we will see McDuffie next to Walker on more obvious running downs and Wilson out there during more pass-heavy situations.
“We feel like we’ve got a lot of guys that can go in there and pick up the slack,” said Matt LaFleur of the linebacker position on Thursday. “Never want to lose a guy like that. But you know, if he can’t go, then we’ll have other guys ready.”
Awaiting the Packers this week is an unpredictable and diverse San Francisco 49ers’ offense–a unit that can put a lot of stress on the linebacker position. This starts with the run game, where the 49ers, again, have been one of the most efficient teams in football, averaging 5.0 yards per carry as a team, even without Christian McCaffrey for much of the season.
With McCaffrey in the backfield, that big play ability and elusiveness he brings is coupled with extreme versatility, able to impact the passing game as well as run between the tackles and outside, all of which when added to together can stress the linebacker position horizontally, opening up running or passing lanes to exploit.
“Just as a presence,” said LaFleur. “I mean, he’s the best back, probably in the game and just all the versatility that he can do. He’s just different than a lot of backs in terms of, they design a lot of routes for him. So I think he’s, he’s just so explosive too. So you’ve got to account for him.”
The San Francisco passing game, meanwhile, attacks the short to intermediate parts of the field heavily–right where the linebackers are often positioned. On just about any given play, the ball could go to whoever is on the field, but between the numbers is where tight end George Kittle and wide receiver Deebo Samuel often operate and present matchup problems, especially when paired with all of the motion and misdirection that Kyle Shanahan utilizes.
“The motions, the misdirections, the things that they try to disguise in that offense,” said Javon Bullard of the 49ers offense. “They just make you dial in on alignments, like very critical, you bump too far against this team, they can take it 75 yards. Everything got to be critical.”
At 5-5 on the season, perhaps this hasn’t been the same juggernaut Niners team that the Packers have run into during past seasons, but as the numbers show, they can still very much hurt opposing defenses, even while navigating injuries of their own.
Containing this unit will take a complementary effort from the entire Green Bay defense, but given where the 49ers’ talent lies and how this offense operates, the spotlight may end up being on the Packers’ linebackers–a position group now without Cooper, who has been their top playmaking presence.