GREEN BAY, Wis. – The Green Bay Packers suffered a devastating blow on Sunday when linebacker Edgerrin Cooper sustained a torn Achilles during the victory over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
“He’s a tough one to lose,” coach Matt LaFleur said on Monday. “We all saw what he was able to do in basically a half of football and the player that he is. My heart hurts for him and his recovery and what he’s going through, but it’s an opportunity for those other guys.”
Those “other guys” are headlined by the backup linebackers, Isaiah McDuffie and Ty’Ron Hopper. Linebacker was arguably the deepest position on the roster. That depth will be tested for the rest of the season.
“McDuffie’s played a lot of great football for us,” LaFleur said. “I think Hopper’s shown really well. Those guys will get an opp.”
Here’s a closer look at the backup plans.
The Other Starter: Zaire Franklin
Knowing they couldn’t re-sign Quay Walker, the Packers pivoted by trading for Zaire Franklin. Franklin made an immediate impact on the field and in the locker room, so was appointed a team captain by his teammates.
He hasn’t done much in the games, though. Playing every defensive snap, he’s produced 29 tackles, including one tackle for loss. After playing second fiddle to Cooper for the first quarter of the season, he must step up his level of play considerably.
“We put a lot on his plate,” LaFleur said. “He directs traffic down there. I think he’s done an outstanding job, and I just love the guy, how engaged he is in the game, bringing everybody up, supporting his teammates. When the offense is out there, you see him standing up after they make the corrections, he’s supporting the offense … He’s been a great leader for us and he does a great job of getting all 11 on the same page.”
That’s noteworthy praise, to be sure. But there wasn’t a word about his performance.
Franklin is one of 60 linebackers to have played at least 150 defensive snaps. For what it’s worth, Franklin is 58th in PFF’s grades. Cooper, who had three sacks and six tackles for losses, made his average tackle 1.3 yards downfield and allowed 5.3 yards per target, according to Sports Info Solutions. Franklin’s average tackle has come 3.7 yards downfield and he’s allowing 9.5 yards per target.
The Incumbent: Isaiah McDuffie
When Cooper was injured, the next man up was Isaiah McDuffie.
McDuffie is as solid as they come as far as backup linebackers go. In the old 4-3 scheme, he typically was the third linebacker. A sixth-round pick in 2021, he started one game his first two seasons but eight in 2023, all 17 in 2024 and 12 last season.
“It’s just having that next-man-up mentality,” he told reporters after the game. “At the end of the day, I got to have his back. That’s what he would want. He would want us to go out there and get the dub for him so, at the end of the day, we’re a unit, we’re a room, and we rely on each other, and it’s always that next-man-up mentality.”
McDuffie is a productive tackler with 86 tackles in 2023, 97 in 2024 and 92 in 2026, but he’s not a big-play performer with career totals off two sacks, 12 tackles for losses, one forced fumble, zero interceptions and five passes defensed.
The Former Early Draft Pick: Ty’Ron Hopper
The Packers drafted Cooper in the second round in 2024. In the third round, they drafted Ty’Ron Hopper.
He’s missed one game in his career – this year’s opener – but hasn’t had many opportunities on defense with 156 career snaps.
“Everything,” LaFleur said of where he’s improved. “From technique, his footwork, his ability to diagnose plays, and go out there and play winning football. So, I think he’s done a great job. I think Sam (Siefkes) does a great job with the linebackers and every year we’ve seen Hop get better and better and better.”
While McDuffie is a steady, sturdy commodity, is there more big-play upside with Hopper?
The Practice Squad: Kristian Welch
Obviously, Kristian Welch isn’t going to be a factor on defense but he almost certainly will be added to the 53-man roster from the practice squad.
The native of Iola, Wis., entered the NFL in 2020, He’s played 1,498 snaps on special teams and 99 on defense. In 23 career games with the Packers, he’s played two snaps on defense.
The Free Agent: Bobby Wagner
The Packers, at their core, are a draft-and-develop franchise. They drafted McDuffie and Hopper and developed them into the players they are today. Presumably, the Packers will go forward with that duo.
However, general manager Brian Gutekunst went out and signed two veteran guards last week, 36-year-old Kevin Zeitler and 34-year-old Laken Tomlinson. Those were out-of-character transactions by Gutekunst but also a sign that desperate times require desperate measures.
Are these desperate times? That’s what the Packers will have to contemplate.
Bobby Wagner is 36 and – by far – the best free agent. From 2014 through 2024, he was a first- or second-team All-Pro for 11 consecutive seasons. He spent the last two years with the Commanders. In 2024, he started all 17 games and had 132 tackles, two sacks, 10 tackles for losses and four passes defensed. In 2025, he started all 17 games and had 162 tackles, 4.5 sacks, eight tackles for losses and four passes defensed.
In a sensational 14-year career, he had missed nine games before watching the start to this season from his house.
Whether he wants to play at all is unknown – former teammate Von Miller didn’t think so.
“If he wanted to play football, he’d be on the team,” Miller told The Dallas Sports Journal. “He’s a man of many talents. He went and got his master’s degree during the season last year. If he wanted to be on the team, he would. I think it’s probably something else that he’s doing right now.”
It might be worth an exploratory call to the future Hall of Famer to gauge his interest in eventually pairing with Micah Parsons to make a run at the playoffs – and beyond.
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