EmailPrintTAMPA, Fla. -- The Green Bay Packers lost one of their best defensive players, linebacker Edgerrin Cooper, to an Achilles injury in the third quarter of Sunday's game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.Cooper went down without contact and reached for his lower left leg. On the play, he looked behind him as if someone kicked him in the back of the leg, but there was no one there. Cooper then pounded his fits into the turf before the medical staff reached him. He could not put any weight on his left leg and was ruled out shortly after he was carted off the field.In the second quarter, Cooper's interception helped give the Packers the lead. He picked off a pass by Bucs rookie quarterback Jalon Daniels with 36 seconds left in the first half that led to a Trey Smack 58-yard field goal that put the Packers ahead 10-7 at halftime.Green Bay led 17-7 in the third quarter when it looked like Cooper was going to blitz on third-and-8 from the Bucs' 37 on Tampa Bay's first possession of the second half. Safety Xavier McKinney sacked Daniels, but the celebration was short-lived when it became apparent that Cooper was injured.Cooper, a second-round pick in 2024, came into the game with 21 tackles, a team-best six tackles for loss and was second on the team with two sacks through the first three games.Isaiah McDuffie, the Packers' special teams captain, replaced Cooper but didn't last long. After five plays, he left the field with an eye injury and was questionable to return.
