Joe Barry is making changes due to an injury
Joe Barry has had to deal with a few unfortunate injuries this season. The Packers lost their best pass rusher, Rashan Gary, midseason. The Packers lost Dean Lowry to the injured reserve this week. He was one of four Packers players injured against the Miami Dolphins. The injury to Lowry should allow the Packers’ first-round pick in the 2022 draft to surface more on the gridiron in the next few weeks.
According to Matt Schneidman with The Athletic, Joe Barry spoke about defensive tackle Devonte Wyatt during his weekly press conference. Barry said Wyatt’s role should increase after Lowry went on injured reserve. Barry added that Wyatt had progressed well with the Packers since he was drafted this spring.
Packers DC Joe Barry says rookie first-round DT Devonte Wyatt’s role will “increase even more” with Dean Lowry’s injury.
— Matt Schneidman (@mattschneidman) December 29, 2022
“D-Wy’s really done a great job from Day 1 just busting his butt … It’s shown in his play now.” pic.twitter.com/9yJltJn9ks
That’s a welcome sign for Packers fans who are curious about Wyatt’s use this season. Wyatt was taken with the 28th overall pick in the 2022 draft. The former second-team All-American and first-team All-SEC defensive lineman hasn’t had much playing time this season. And it’s not like the Packers have had great defensive line play this season; Lowry is graded just 59.3 overall this season by Pro Football Focus.
Wyatt has appeared in 14 games for the Packers but has no starts. He’s played a total of 158 defensive snaps. Wyatt is actually graded slightly higher overall (62.4) than Lowry this season. Wyatt has one sack, six pressures, three stops, and eight total tackles this season. Now we’ll see how he grades out when asked to take on more responsibility during the most critical stretch of the Packers’ regular season.
