The Green Bay Packers officially announced that third-year linebacker Edgerrin Cooper will miss the rest of the 2026 season with a torn Achilles. While Cooper is obviously disappointed by the outcome, he took to social media to let fans know that he plans to be back.
He posted 11 pictures with the caption “Can’t hold a soldier down forever”
He also posted a picture on his story with the caption “brb,” meaning ‘be right back.’
It is good to see that Cooper is taking the devastating news in stride. It appears he is interested in the return and not focused on the setback.
Green Bay Packers Lose Edgerrin Cooper to Torn Achilles
Cooper suffered the injury when he was attempting to disguise a blitz. He showed blitz, and when he went to change direction to drop into coverage, he fell to the ground. He had to be carted off the field.
The fact that it was a non-contact injury, combined with the reaction of the players, made it clear what had happened.
Teammates expressed sympathy for Cooper, who was entering a crucial third year.
Cooper had a strong rookie season despite being used in a rotational role. The former second-round pick started in four games, but had 3.5 sacks and an interception as a rookie.
By his second season, he was a full-time starter. He recorded 118 tackles, but dropped to 0.5 sacks. In 2026, the plan for Jonathan Gannon was to get more of a combination of a pass-rush and tackle producer. Through four games, he had 30 tackles and three sacks. He was pacing for the best year of his career.
What hurts now is that he will enter his fourth year, and the last year of his rookie salary, with major questions about his future.
Packers Have Major Contract Decision Looming for Cooper
Before the injury, Cooper was going to be one of the highest-paid players at his position. Now, the team is going to want to wait until much closer to the start of the 2027 season before they make a decision on him.
Cooper could be back just in time for Week 1. Still, this is a major injury, and they will not know how he looks on an NFL field before they might have to decide on investing big money in him.
The good news for Cooper is that the Packers just did this with Tucker Kraft. He suffered an ACL injury, which is a bit different. However, he suffered the injury later in the season than Cooper did. He was healthy just in time to play in Week 1.
However, the Packers still paid him before he entered the last year of his rookie deal. He signed a four-year, $75M deal with incentives to get up to $92M. Perhaps without the injury, he would not have needed the incentives. The Packers might follow this structure with Cooper in 2027 as he recovers.
Edgerrin Cooper Sends Strong Message After Devastating Injury