Sean Rhyan Nailed It Following Crushing Injury to Packers Star Edgerrin Cooper

The hits just keep on coming for the Green Bay Packers.

All-Pro defensive end Micah Parsons, who the Packers mortgaged their future to acquire at the end of training camp last year, suffered a torn ACL late last season that ruined their Super Bowl hopes. He might miss another month’s worth of games.

Veteran running back Josh Jacobs remains out indefinitely following an offseason arrest.

High-priced left guard Aaron Banks has played 22 snaps in four games.

Explosive slot receiver Jayden Reed suffered a season-ending neck injury during the second snap at the Jets.

Standout right tackle Zach Bako-Bewele suffered a season-ending knee injury on the next play.

The Packers beat the Tampa Bay Buccaneers 17-14 on Sunday, but it was the case of one small step forward and a few giant steps back. Linebacker Edgerrin Cooper, arguably the team’s best defensive player without Parsons, suffered a torn Achilles during the second half. He took one step on a third-down blitz and fell to the turf. He turned around to see who tripped him; nobody tripped him. It was his Achilles, and he quickly grabbed his ankle.

“I would suspect” that Cooper will miss the rest of the season, coach Matt LaFleur said.

How can the Packers make life miserable for quarterbacks without Parsons’ game-wrecking ability? How will the Packers find offensive balance without Jacobs? How can the Packers maximize their passing game without Reed? How can the Packers block without Banks and Bako-Bewele?

How can the defense survive without all the havoc Cooper creates?

Football is a cruel sport. Injuries are no excuse, they say. Next man up, they say.

Baloney.

Green Bay Packers linebacker Edgerrin Cooper (56) tackles Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Jalon Daniels. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

“We’ve been kind of hit with some type of curse, it seems like,” center Sean Rhyan said.

He’s right.

The Packers aren’t the only team that’s injured, obviously. It’s a way of life in the NFL. But the football Gods seem to have something against green and gold.

“It’s terrible,” linebacker Isaiah McDuffie, the presumptive new starter, said. “That’s the sh****est part about this game. Guys going down, your brothers going down, I hate to see that and I just feel for him.”

Cooper is an ascending third-year star. He single-handed destroyed the Buccaneers with nine tackles, one sack and a critical interception during the first half alone.

The Packers need him. Obviously. And especially without Parsons. He’s an all-around, dominating force with three sacks and seven tackles for losses in three-and-a-half games. It’s exactly what everyone forecasted following his powerhouse finish to his rookie season. Cooper, for his part, should be parlaying his elite-level play into a contract extension.

The Packers will turn to their next man up because, well, what would they do otherwise? Play 11-on-10? Forfeit the season? McDuffie is a solid, experienced linebacker. But he’s not Cooper, in the same way that Lukas Van Ness isn’t Parsons, Skyy Moore isn’t Reed and the veteran guards aren’t Bako-Bewele.

“There’s no words you can tell someone in that moment,” said tight end Tucker Kraft, who was having a monster breakout season last year when he suffered a torn ACL.”

“Coop wasn’t alone in his draft class. We got Ty’Ron Hopper in there, too,” Kraft continued. “It’s just the next-man up mentality, as cliche as it sounds, as sad as it sounds, to lose one of our weapons like that. Very unfortunate, but it is what it is.”

It will be all hands on deck in the Packers’ quest to stay afloat until Parsons returns. And not just the linebackers. Everyone needs to play better, whether it’s another of young standouts like Evan Williams, or veterans like Zaire Franklin and Keisean Nixon.

“It definitely numbs it down a little bit, the thrill of a win, just because I feel like guys all know what he means to this team, what he means to this defense,” said Williams, who had an early interception and two critical blitzes to help clinch the game.

“He’s somebody that just sets the tone into every game. He’s somebody that’s going to get us all jumpstarted. That’s going to be definitely a tough hole to fill but again, at the same time, it’s a next-man-up league. We’re definitely praying for him to come back and get his rehab done and come back as fast as he can, but other people got to step up and show what they’re capable of. That’s the name of the game.”

It is because, again, what’s the alternative?

It will be incumbent on players like Franklin, the defensive captain who was relishing his time with Cooper, to lead by word and by deed.

“That’s one of those things that it’s a win, but it don’t feel like a win,” he said. “Obviously, me and Coop, we’re locked in. So, just my boy going down, that hurt. But, obviously, Duffie stepped up in a major way. That’s who he is. That’s who he’s been his whole career, that’s why he’s got a ‘C’ on his chest. He’s a special player. He’s going to make plays when we need them, too.

“So, it’s just the next-man-up mentality. I understand when a superstar like Coop goes down, guys have got to step up and make plays and that’s what we did.”

Can they do it against the juggernaut Bears offense on Sunday? The explosive Cowboys the following week? The dynamic Lions after that?

Really, it all seems like too much to overcome. The Packers were a flawed team, anyway, with a limited margin for error. Now, they’ve lost their best player. The team crumbled after Parsons’ knee injury last year. Can the Packers survive without Cooper long enough for Parsons’ return to be meaningful?

The situation seems bleak, but the show will go on.

“You can’t let that affect the way you play,” Williams said. “You’ve just got to do your job. As soon as you start to do too much and feel like you’ve got to make plays or fill in for somebody that’s gone, that’s when there’s holes in the defense and explosives start to show.

“So it’s just about doing your job and trusting the man next to you, even though that’s not going to be Coop. I’ve got trust in all the guys in this locker room. We put in a lot of time in training camp to get to this point right here. Regardless who it is, we’re going to ride with him all the way.”

Winners and losers, from @JacobWestendorf, following the Packers' victory over the Buccaneers. ⬇️https://t.co/5Jer2ufWu3
— Bill Huber (@BillHuberNFL) October 4, 2026

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