Jaire Alexander wants to be aggressive
Green Bay Packers defensive coordinator Joe Barry told reporters Thursday that the defense would make changes before their Week 6 game. Barry said the secondary would play more aggressively at times. His defense was criticized following the Packers’ loss in Week 1 and Week 5. The plan seems to be gaining traction with one of the Packers’ secondary members, Jaire Alexander.
According to Bill Huber with Sports Illustrated, the Packers’ secondary commented on the new gameplan against the New York Jets this week.
“I think with this gameplan we’ve got here, it’s pretty flawless,” cornerback Jaire Alexander said…
“It’s time to execute now on our end,” Alexander added.
According to Huber, Jaire Alexander said key defenders met with head coach Matt LaFleur and the defensive coaching staff on the flight home from London. The conversation was serious, but the defense gained confidence this week.
“There’s a level of respect that we have for each other — players to coaches, coaches to coaches and player to player,” Alexander said. “So, when you have that level of respect, you should be able to speak how you feel and have a conversation about it, which there was. And moving forward, I think the game plan is really good.”
The defense needs to prove they can play aggressive
It’ll be interesting to see how the Packers perform against the Jets. The Packers’ secondary is supposed to be an elite group. Now it appears Barry will free them up to be more aggressive. It’s up to the players to respond in a big way. If quarterback Zach Wilson torches the secondary, things could get ugly in Green Bay. Jaire Alexander wanted to play more man coverage this season. He needs to be the lockdown defender the Packers expect him to be on Sunday.
The defense will have a few challenges in Week 6. This week, the Packers received bad news that the team’s sack leader, Rashan Gary, is battling a toe injury. His status for the Jets game is questionable. In Thursday’s press conference, Barry said that the pass rush was key to helping the secondary be effective in coverage. We’ll see if his injury causes Barry to reconsider his aggressive approach or if he sticks with the current game plan.
1 Comment
No more “cruise control” on defense. All out on every play! And THINK!