Matt LaFleur did not need a long scouting report when the conversation turned to Ty’Ron Hopper. Asked what kind of growth had put the third-year linebacker in position to contribute the way he did on Sunday, Green Bay’s coach went straight to the jump from draft pick to Year 3 contributor.
“I’ve seen a ton of growth,” LaFleur said. “If you talk from year one now being in year three, I think we kind of saw this coming throughout the course of OTAs and then certainly into training camp. So that’s really exciting to see, because that’s a guy that we envisioned when we drafted him.”
Preparation, fundamentals, and diagnosing the play
Pressed on the biggest piece of that progression over the last year, LaFleur refused to pick one box. “I would say in every facet of it — how he prepares, but also the fundamentals that he’s playing with, his ability to diagnose what’s going on,” he said. “If you ever want to make plays in this league, you better be able to anticipate what’s coming. And I think just overall football knowledge.”
That learning curve, he added, is different for every player. The more Hopper has played, the more he has grown into the anticipation LaFleur wants from the second level — the same quality that turns a rotation linebacker into someone the staff trusts when the call sheet gets thin.
One day at a time into Cowboys week
LaFleur kept the wider Week 6 frame simple: win or loss, the building’s energy and process have to show up every day. “Every week’s a new challenge, new opportunity, and you’re only as good as your last game,” he said. Injuries and roster churn, he framed as somebody else’s chance — including players such as Hopper who have waited for snaps to open.
Green Bay hosts Dallas on Sunday night looking to carry last week’s momentum into a prime-time defense that will need every healthy linebacker reading the play as fast as Hopper has started to.
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