Rookie linebacker Edgerrin Cooper has keyed the Packers’ improvement against the run. Up next is Saquon Barkley.

GREEN BAY, Wis. — Edgerrin Cooper grimaces when he watches his early-season film. The Green Bay Packers rookie inside linebacker said he turns on the tape and sees a player who “wasn’t too keyed on what was going on” as he acclimated to the NFL.

The Packers didn’t overload Cooper, their second-rounder out of Texas A&M, at the outset of the season. He played just 11 snaps in their season-opening loss to the Eagles in São Paulo, Brazil, when Saquon Barkley made a statement by posting 132 scrimmage yards and three touchdowns.

But with each successive week, Packers defensive coordinator Jeff Hafley has increased Cooper’s workload. The 6-foot-2, 229-pound rookie has risen to the occasion. In his last four games, three of which were starts in the absence of the injured middle linebacker Quay Walker, Cooper flashed his explosiveness in the run game with collected seven tackles for loss.

» READ MORE: Eagles QB Jalen Hurts returns to practice, takes key step toward playing vs. Packers

Just how far has Cooper come since the start of the season?

“A long, long, long way,” he said Wednesday.

Cooper will have an opportunity to display his growth in Sunday’s wild-card game against the Eagles, a rematch between the league’s rushing title holder in Barkley and an increasingly stingy run defense. Ever since the Packers’ shaky performance against the run in their narrow victory over the Chicago Bears in Week 11 when they gave up a season-worst 179 rushing yards, the group has tightened up to just 70.4 rushing yards allowed per game.

Since returning in Week 14 from a three-game hiatus because of a hamstring injury, Cooper has played a considerable role in the Packers run defense’s success. He racked up four tackles for loss in Week 17 against the Minnesota Vikings, using his speed and instincts to stuff running backs Aaron Jones, Cam Akers, and Ty Chandler behind the line of scrimmage.

Pro Football Focus credited Cooper with a season-high six stops in that game, which the service defines as tackles that constitute failures for the opposing offense. The 23-year-old inside linebacker doesn’t keep any secrets behind his run-stopping success in recent weeks.

“I just listen to the play call, and I look at my assignment,” Cooper said. “Just try to whoop the man in front of me. That’s it.”

Come Sunday, that man could be Barkley. The Packers are well-acquainted with the challenges that the star running back presents. In Week 1, Barkley collected 109 yards and two touchdowns on 24 carries, with the majority of the damage coming against light boxes (six or fewer defenders; 92 yards on 16 carries).

Since the season opener, Barkley has shouldered even more of the workload in the Eagles offense. He eclipsed 2,000 rushing yards on the season in Week 17 against the Dallas Cowboys thanks to his 167-yard performance. Packers coach Matt LaFleur expressed an understanding of what separates Barkley from other running backs across the league.

“If you give them a lane to run through, he’s the type of back where maybe some backs might get 10, 12, yards,” LaFleur said, “he might go 80 yards. So everything is so important in terms of just playing sound football, setting edges, using your hands, defeating blocks, everything matters.

“And then you got to have a great tackling plan for him as well, because he’s capable, certainly, of running through tackles or making you miss. He’s just a heck of a player.”

Barkley has been particularly dominant this season before contact. He averaged 3.8 yards before contact per attempt, which led the league among running backs.

The Eagles’ ability to keep Barkley clean through the first and second levels of the defense has allowed him to generate explosive runs this season, according to Packers defensive tackle Kenny Clark. The star running back amassed 46 carries of 10-plus yards this season, including 17 of 20 yards or more.

» READ MORE: Style of Saquon: Inside Barkley's best fashion looks of 2024

“It’s just a combination of his vision and the offensive line,” Clark said. “You can do a good job of just limiting guys the first couple yards and get him into space, that’s really when he turns on. You see all those explosive plays and all that kind of stuff. So we’ve got to just do a good job of hitting him in the backfield, getting him to stop his feet, and not letting him get going.”

Behind the line of scrimmage is where Cooper has thrived at causing disruption in recent weeks. Now, with all eyes on Barkley on the heels of his historic season, the rookie inside linebacker is looking forward to showcasing his instincts against the run.

“The player I am, I like to show the world [I’m] different,” Cooper said. “Show everybody what I do, no matter how young I am and how long I’ve been in the NFL.”