Green Bay Packers defensive coordinator Joe Barry made a comment this week that likely annoyed fans.
Barry was asked by reporters this week if he thought it was a good idea to have cornerback Jaire Alexander playing off coverage for the majority of games.
The Green Bay defensive coordinator responded that it’s probably not a good idea. If you’re a Packers fan, that has to be extremely frustrating to hear for one specific reason — Barry is the guy calling the coverages!!!
It’s been abundantly obvious since the season-opener against the Minnesota Vikings that Barry’s approach was terrible.
Asked if it’s a good use of Jaire Alexander to have him play off coverage 50 times in a game, #Packers DC said no, even though he calls the coverages. He said it will change. Alexander and other corners will be allowed to play more aggressively. “We will do that moving forward.”
— Tom Silverstein (@TomSilverstein) October 13, 2022
So why has it taken five games for Barry to realize he needs to call different coverages? Well, it’s because Barry didn’t actually realize it.
It’s because fans have been shouting it on social media for weeks. And head coach Matt LaFleur finally had enough and told Barry to change his calls and bring more pressure.
LaFleur said that he told defensive coordinator Joe Barry to either play coverage or get after the quarterback because playing man and sending just four in the first half wasn’t creating any pressure. Barry started to bring pressure more in the second half and it helped.
— Tom Silverstein (@TomSilverstein) September 21, 2021
I don’t see how Green Bay fans can have any faith in Barry at this point. He clearly has no clue what he’s doing.
And now he’s just reacting to what fans and media are saying. LaFleur and the Packers hired Barry to essentially be the head coach of the defense.
LaFleur has enough going on with the offense to worry about, the last thing he needs is an incompetent defensive coordinator.
Maybe Barry will realize the error of his ways and be proactive instead of reactive.
But based on what we’ve seen so far this season, I wouldn’t count on that being the case.
