SEATTLE – It's just football.
That's all Edgerrin Cooper was thinking about as the Packers linebacker readied to make his return Sunday night in Seattle after missing three games with a hamstring injury.
The rookie second-round pick didn't skip a beat, tallying the first of Green Bay's seven sacks and catching his first career interception in the fourth quarter to help propel the Packers to a 30-13 win over the Seahawks at Lumen Field.
Cooper is the first Packers rookie to record a sack and an interception in the same game since Esera Tuaolo during a 27-0 win over Tampa Bay on Oct. 27, 1991.
"I had no idea (what my role would be), but I just prepare to go out there and make plays," Cooper said. "My plan was just to go out there and have fun. I've been doing this a long time. It's just football at the end of the day. Go out there, do what I need to do."
Back healthy, Cooper was again utilized as a schematic chess piece in defensive coordinator Jeff Hafley's scheme. He did a little bit of everything during a five-tackle performance that also included two quarterback hits, and two passes defensed.
He made first contact with Seattle quarterback Geno Smith on the Seahawks' opening possession, powering through the offensive line from the A-gap to bring Smith to the ground for a 9-yard loss on third-and-4.
It was one of a multitude of simulated pressures Green Bay ran against Seattle, where multiple players teased a blitz only for the Packers send a four-man rush.
"It was a great feeling, first play back in, be able to go out there and make a play like that," Cooper said. "Our defense, the capability we have is to the roof."
The sack was a sign of more pressures to come, including Rashan Gary's sack on the next series. At the start of the third quarter, defensive lineman Devonte Wyatt pulled off a spin move on right guard Sataoa Laumea to sack Smith for a 9-yard loss. Two plays later, Laumea was called for holding on fellow defensive lineman Kenny Clark.
The game took a toll on both Smith and the Seahawks' offensive line, which finished the game without center Olu Oluwatimi. Smith also exited in the third quarter and didn't return after sustaining a knee injury on a third-quarter pressure by Cooper.
Backup Sam Howell completed just five passes while being sacked four times during the final 1½ quarters, including a three-and-out at the end of the third quarter in which Kingsley Enagbare sacked him on both first and third down to notch his first two-sack day.
Coincidentally, Enagbare also tackled him on a 2-yard scramble on second down. Defensive linemen Karl Brooks and Brenton Cox Jr. also added sacks in the fourth quarter.
"Once Sam got in with our disguises and our blitzes and all that kind of stuff, it's hard for a backup quarterback to come in and make plays like that," Clark said. "Especially early on, he started seeing stuff – you saw (Enagbare) had three plays in a row where he just made plays. We had him confused back there for a little bit until they tried to figure it out."
After Carrington Valentine already picked off Smith in the second quarter, Cooper put a stamp on a dominant evening for Green Bay's defense when he grabbed his first career interception off Howell with 5 minutes, 27 seconds left in the game.
The Packers converted his takeaway into a 22-yard touchdown pass to Romeo Doubs to effectively put the game out of reach at 30-13. For Cooper, it was a chance at redemption after he nearly picked off Howell earlier in the fourth quarter.
"The crazy part is before each one I was like, 'It's coming my way,'" Cooper said. "When we went out there again, I was like, 'It's coming again.' Had to make that one."
The Seahawks finished with just 208 total yards of offense while converting just four times on 13 third-down attempts.
It's the first time the Packers have had seven-plus sacks, two takeaways and allowed fewer than 225 total yards in a game since a 55-7 drubbing of Tennessee on Dec. 23, 2012.
Six different players contributed to the defense's seven sacks and nine had a hand in their 12 combined hits on Smith and Howell, but everything started with the returning Cooper.
The Packers are glad to have the versatile 6-foot-2, 229-pound linebacker back.
"He's special, man," Enagbare said. "From the stat line, you can see he can do everything, make tackles, make interceptions, get the sacks. There's literally nothing he's physically not able to do. The sky's the limit for him. He's gonna be a hell of a player one day – or continue to be a hell of a player."
