Packers linebacker Quay Walker impressed with rookie Edgerrin Cooper over offseason

Packers linebacker Quay Walker recently offered some simple advice for his new rookie teammate, Edgerrin Cooper. Don’t think.

Actually, Walker’s words were “don’t do no thinking, bro. Just fly around. If you mess up, it is what it is. You are a rookie. Just take want you can learn … and go from there.”

And according to Packers coaches, Cooper did a nice job during OTAs and minicamp of simply reacting. That way, he can use his speed to make plays, albeit in no-contact drills. Cooper can answer another question once the Packers begin training camp, July 22. Is he good enough to start?

The Packers selected Cooper, the former Texas A&M star, with the 45th pick of the second round of April’s NFL Draft. He was the first inside linebacker off the draft board. Once he arrived in Green Bay for rookie camp, then stayed for OTAs and minicamp, Cooper consistently turned heads.

“He’s showing flashes, getting downhill, playing, flying around,” Walker said of Cooper.

Newest Packers rookie LB says he did ‘relax in my head’

And Cooper acknowledged to reporters that he was able to “relax in my head,” as he practiced. Being a good linebacker is about instinct. But it also hinges on discipline and being in the right lanes. Sometimes rookies get overwhelmed because the defense isn’t instinctive, as yet.

“I’m starting to pick it up,” said the Packers rookie. “So right now it’s just, you know, playing ball. It feels good to where I don’t have to think as much and just do what I do.”

The Packers are installing a new defense as Green Bay switches to a 4-3 base under new coordinator Jeff Hafley, the former head coach at Boston College. Cooper would be used in the middle of the defense. Most likely, the Packers would use a lot of a 4-2-5, their nickel package. So Cooper and Walker would be on the field at the same time.

Also, count on Walker to be huge in this new Green Bay defense. The Packers selected the former Georgia Bulldog in the first round of the 2022 Draft. He quickly made an impact. His 119 tackles ranked second amongst rookies his first year. And they ranked fifth in Packers history for rookie linebackers. He made 118 a year ago.

LaFleur tried to trick Cooper during minicamp

Getting back to Cooper, he was the Packers first defensive pick in April’s draft. So it’s hard to overstate the plans the Packers have for him this coming season.

Packers coach Matt LaFleur offered an anecdote about Cooper during a media availability last month. He wanted to test whether Cooper had been studying the defensive play book. He called a play that could trick Cooper and LaFleur told the defensive coaches not to tell the linebacker before hand. LaFleur wanted to see his reaction.

“I thought for sure we were going to get him on (it), and he did a heck of a job,” LaFleur told reporters. “I was kind of teasing the other coaches, ‘Did you preview him for that play?’ And they did not.

“So, that’s a credit to him and just how engaged he’s been and how locked in he’s been throughout the course of the offseason.”