The Green Bay Packers defense had the hype of a top-five unit entering the 2022 season with six former first-round picks starting and multiple big-money extensions being doled out to cornerbacks Jaire Alexander (four years, $84 million) and Rasul Douglas (three years, $21 million) as well as linebacker De’Vondre Campbell (five years, $50 million). However, defensive coordinator Joe Barry has been unable to make the unit greater than the sum of its parts with the team ranking 16th in scoring defense (21.6 PPG allowed), 29th in rushing defense (141.3 rushing yards per game allowed) and 20th in missed tackle percentage (11.7%).
The gap between Green Bay’s defensive performance and its preseason expectations left Barry’s boss, head coach Matt LaFleur, answering questions at his media availability on Monday about if he had plans to make an in-season change to his staff’s defensive play-caller position.
“Oh, no, absolutely not,” LaFleur said when asked if he had plans to make a coaching change, going to bat for his defensive coordinator and former Los Angeles Rams co-worker.
Barry has had multiple stops around the league as a defensive coordinator, but none with rousing success. He was the Detroit Lions‘ defensive play-caller during their 0-16 season in 2008 when they allowed a league-worst 32.3 points per game. His Washington defenses averaged 23.6 points per game in his two seasons as their coordinator in the 2015 and 2016 seasons. Barry crossed over with LaFleur in their first season on Sean McVay’s Los Angeles Rams staff in 2017, and he remained with the team as assistant head coach and linebackers coach through the 2020 season before coming to the Packers to reunite with LaFleur.
Rumblings have started to surface of players questioning the play-calling and game plans in Green Bay. Alexander, the NFL‘s highest-paid cornerback on an annual basis ($21 million per year) voiced his displeasure with not being given the opportunity to shadow Minnesota Vikings wide receiver Justin Jefferson in the Packers’ 23-7 season-opening loss. In the Packers’ 27-17 loss at the Buffalo Bills on “Sunday Night Football” last week, Buffalo wideout Stefon Diggs caught six of his eight targets for 108 receiving yards and a touchdown while Alexander aligned across from Bills No. 2 receiver Gabe Davis on 61% of Davis’ routes, according to Next Gen Stats. Alexander had an interception and did…
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