The Green Bay Packers offense surprised a lot of people last season, including many of their fans. After Aaron Rodgers was traded to the New York Jets, there were many questions and doubts about how the offense would flow with Jordan Love under center. Not only did they have a new starting quarterback, their wide receiver and tight end rooms were composed entirely of first and second year players.
For the first few weeks of the season, they looked like the inexperienced group that they were. Love barely completed 60% of his passes, wide receivers ran wrong routes, Luke Musgrave couldn’t catch anything without falling down, and they suffered injuries to three of their most important players (Christian Watson, Aaron Jones, and David Bakhtiari).
In the second half of the season, though, the offense started to gel and the Packers went from 2-5 to 9-8 thanks to winning seven of their last 10 games. Love ended up with the best first season for a starting quarterback in Packers history, Jayden Reed broke Sterling Sharpe‘s franchise rookie reception record, and Dontayvion Wicks started drawing comparisons to Davante Adams.
But while things steadily improved on the offensive side of the ball, the same could not be said for the defense.
The Green Bay Packers Had a Plethora of Problems on Defense Under Joe Barry
Last season, the Packers’ defense was consistently inconsistent. While their passing defense was the ninth-best in the NFL allowing 206.8 yards per game, their run defense was the fifth-worst, allowing 128.3 yards per game.
Green Bay especially struggled against mobile quarterbacks and in stopping teams making a fourth-quarter drive to take the lead. Perhaps the best (worst?) example of this was Green Bay’s 24-22 loss against the New York Giants on December 11.
Despite not playing well, Green Bay took a 22-21 lead with 1:33 left in the fourth quarter. Joe Barry’s defense, though, allowed Giants fourth-string quarterback Tommy DeVito march his team down the field for a last second field goal and the win. DeVito ran the ball 10 times for 71 yards as the Packers’ defenders failed to read and react fast enough to stop him.
This, of course, was just one example of everything that was wrong with the defense during Barry’s three years as defensive coordinator. He was fired during this offseason and replaced by Boston College head coach Jeff Hafley.
Green Bay Packers Star Jaire Alexander Takes Veiled Shot at Joe Barry While Praising Jeff Hafley
The Packers are currently in the midst of their organized team activities (OTA’s) portion of the offseason. Unlike last season, cornerback Jaire Alexander is present and taking on a leadership role with the defense.
Last year, of course, Alexander struggled with injuries and with some perceived attitude problems in regards to his dealings with the coaching staff. Eventually, the two-time Pro Bowler was suspended for Green Bay’s Week 17 game against the Minnesota Vikings due to his behavior.
As mentioned, things are different this year. Alexander is present and, by all accounts, has completely changed his behavior.
On Wednesday, he was asked about the changes that the new defensive and training staffs have made and how they were different from last year’s in terms of fostering a positive atmosphere and connected locker room:
Jaire Alexander explains how defensive and strength staff changes “definitely” have improved his happiness and connectedness to the team.
On the prior staff in that regard: “I wouldn’t say it was missing, but it wasn’t as easy as it is with this new staff. They’ve been great.” pic.twitter.com/u0XS1PuOIH
— Matt Schneidman (@mattschneidman) May 29, 2024
“I wouldn’t say it was missing, but it wasn’t as easy as it is with this new staff. They’ve been great.”
It certainly sounds like Alexander, and many other players, were not so fond of the way things were under Barry. And not just with scheme, but with the overall vibe of the locker room.
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