GREEN BAY, Wis. — The Green Bay Packers renew their rivalry with the Bears Sunday at Lambeau Field.
By necessity, the Packers defense will have a different look.
The season-ending injury to linebacker Edgerrin Cooper is a blow to the Packers defense, especially with the tough Bears running game coming to town.
“It’s horrible. And it just sucks. It’s the crappy part about the game. You know, seeing your brothers go down and injuries,” Isaiah McDuffie, Packers linebacker, said. “Guys in the room got to pick it up. And you know it’s going to be a challenge. And you know, looking forward to, you know, being out there and helping the team.”
Head Coach Matt LaFleur said Cooper will be hard to replace.
“It’s hard to replace a guy like Coop, but it goes on the collective, every individual. And certainly we got two guys that we feel really good about going in there and McDuffie and Hopper, and I’m excited for their opportunity to get out there and show what they can do,” he said. “But ultimately, I think football, it’s the ultimate team sport, and it takes all 11 doing their job.”
Packers linebacker Zaire Franklin also expressed confidence in his teammates.
“I got a lot of faith in Hop and Duff. You know, obviously, both of those guys have played, you know, a lot of ball, made a lot of plays on Sunday. Made plays against Chicago before. So I think those guys will be ready to play,” he said.
In addition to their emotions, there’s the cold reality of the NFL: The game will be played. Practical adjustments have to happen.
“You’re losing a guy that’s, you know, a tone center, a game changer,” Evan Williams, Packers safety, said.
“The first thing that comes to my mind is just having trust in everybody. You know, it’s a next man up type of league. And you can’t completely alter your game plan because of, you know, you have one person out,” he continued.
Kristian Welch, Packers linebacker, said injuries are unfortunate. However, he feels ready for game day.
“I’m sick for Coop. Just the way he was playing. He’s playing so well,” Welch said.
“Unfortunately, there’s injuries, and yeah, it gives guys opportunities, myself included. So yeah, just excited to get out there and play some ball,” he added.
Even with Cooper, run defense hasn’t been the Packers’ strength. Play-caller Ben Johnson and the Bears will look to take advantage.
“I think it really starts with stopping the run. Personally, you know, I think no matter how talented of a play caller you are or how complicated or analytical we get in this football game, football. Just run the ball, stop the run, take the ball away. So I think if you want to stop any offense, you got to stop the run,” Franklin said.
Both star Bears running backs, Kyle Monangai and D’Andre Swift, did not practice Wednesday because of injuries.
Source: spectrumnews1.com
