Season 7 didn’t just embellish on developing Negan’s personality, so there are technically a bunch of other newish characters and angles that could be examined should the current big bad not be around to point Lucille at people on a regular basis.
The Walking Dead is currently filming Episode 5, according to Digital Spy, meaning there are at least three episodes that were filmed where Negan doesn’t appear to have any major scenes.
We know that Jadis is getting a bigger role, and Negan’s second banana Simon could continue serving as the resident threat in the leader’s absence.
(At least, scenes set in outdoor locations where Jeffrey Dean Morgan’s leather-bound presence could be witnessed by onlookers, but more on that in a bit.)