GREEN BAY, Wis. – In the wake of Edgerrin Cooper’s torn Achilles, the Green Bay Packers placed their star linebacker on injured reserve on Tuesday and promoted fellow linebacker Kristian Welch from the practice squad.
Cooper had three sacks, six tackles for losses and 30 tackles in about three-and-a-half games. Of the 20 players with at least three sacks, Cooper was the only player who was not an edge rusher or defensive tackle. He also has more tackles than any player with three-plus sacks; Houston’s Will Anderson (23) is the only other player with 20-plus tackles.
It’s not just the rudimentary stats.
Aaron Schatz has a stat called “defeats” that measures turnovers, tackles for losses and any other play that prevents the opponent from moving the chains on third or fourth down. Cooper has 12 defeats; only Anderson with 13 has more.
How will the Packers pivot beyond simply plugging Isaiah McDuffie or Ty’Ron Hopper into the lineup?
“I think in my brain: Who do we have? Who are we playing? How do we deploy them to affect the game in a positive way?” defensive coordinator Jonathan Gannon said on Tuesday. “That’s always my standard-issue answer to those questions, and hopefully you guys see it’s really not lip service.
“We try to do that as much as we can if it can impact the defense, too. I’m all about individuals, but it can’t get other guys stressed out with what you’re asking them to do as well. Football is the greatest game in the world because it’s 11 guys out there, and everyone’s got to do their job at a high level to have success. It’s more about the collective unit doing a good job.”
Packers Promote Kristian Welch
The promotion of Kristian Welch from the practice squad won’t do anything to replace Cooper. However, it will take the sting out of special teams coordinator Cam Achord probably losing Isaiah McDuffie from his units.
McDuffie, who was voted the team’s captain on special teams, leads the kick-coverage units with four tackles. If he’s going to be an every-down player on defense, then he can’t be a core player on special teams.
“I think we’re still going through all that right now, but I think as is any position, you’ve got to go through the depth, and that’s why we work to get so many guys ready to go,” Achord said. “That’s a credit to other players being ready to go. Other guys had to step up in that game just the other day.
“That’s why we work more guys at positions throughout the week, is if someone goes down, it’s not one guy, it’s multiple units. Is it four phases, five, six, whatever it is depending on the position, so you’ve got to work multiple guys throughout the week.”
Welch is a proven player on special teams. The native of Iola, Wis., is in his seventh NFL season. He’s played 1,498 snaps on special teams and 99 snaps on defense, according to Pro Football Reference.
“Yeah, anytime you’ve got a veteran like that who’s done it at a high level, especially in the kicking game – he’s already played one game for us – so there’s some comfort there,” Achord said. “He does a tremendous job. We challenge those guys every week to be ready to go, because you don’t know when something’s going to happen. Does it happen during the game? Does it happen Wednesday, Thursday or Friday? Somebody gets sick on a Saturday morning.
“So, I think our guys do a really good job – not just the guys who are on the 53, but the practice squad guys. You’ve got to challenge those guys to be ready to go. Because when your number gets called, that’s your opportunity. We try to, as a coaching staff, to get all those practice guys involved, and they know what roles they may have to play if they’re called upon.”
The Packers still have an open spot on their 53-man roster, with Warren Brinson going on injured reserve on Saturday.
Packers Make Important Addition to Practice Squad
The other transaction made by the Packers on Tuesday was bringing back running back Damon Bankston to the practice squad. He signed to the practice squad on Sept. 8 and was released on Sept. 29.
This is a noteworthy move. Running back Chris Brooks started on Sunday at Tampa Bay but dropped out with an ankle injury in the first half. Coach Matt LaFleur on Monday said the team was doing testing to figure out the severity.
If Brooks potentially is going to miss some time – whether it’s one game or one month – the Packers probably will be giving a chance to Pierre Strong, either on the 53-man roster or as a practice-squad elevation. If the Packers are going to be counting on Strong to play in the games, he can’t be taking the scout-team reps at practice.
Hence, the importance of this move.
This is actually Bankston’s third time with the Packers. He had a predraft visit with Green Bay but chose to sign with the Giants after going undrafted.
“I had brought it down to three teams which was the Giants, the Packers and the Raiders,” Bankston told KRQE. “Out of those three, I just thought the Giants were the best fit for me to make an impact right away. This type of opportunity I’ve been waiting for pretty much my whole life and right now I’m just focused on taking advantage of it.”
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