Packers DC listening to players, reportedly calling more aggressive defense

It was a problem all throughout the 2022 season for the Green Bay Packers.

Green Bay's defense—chock-full of first-round talent—could hardly get off the field in "and long" situations. Third and long was basically a death sentence for the group, especially when star pass rusher Rashan Gary went down with a torn ACL in November, thus taking away the unit's best chance at getting to the quarterback.

Speaking of, Green Bay's secondary struggled to make quarterbacks pay. The Packers finished with a middle-of-the-pack (pun intended) passing offense (213.6 yards given up per game) and their interception total, 12, was just as middling. This is despite having Jaire Alexander—one of the best cornerbacks in all of football—patrolling the outside as well as veteran cornerback and pick-off machine Rasul Douglas alongside him.

Even the layman watching could see what the problem was, and that perhaps made things all the more frustrating for the Packers. Despite having legitimate talent at corner, defensive coordinator Joe Barry consistently had his players playing "off" coverage. For some reason, on third and seven (for example), the Packers would have their corners playing 10 yards off, basically giving up the first down.

This was addressed publicly, specifically by Alexander. Barry spoke about it as well. Heading into 2023, Douglas told ESPN that it has been addressed by Barry privately as well.

Barry met with his players in 2022 exit interviews and revied feedback to take into this season.

“He said, ‘You all don’t know it, but I’m going to communicate what you guys want to do,’” Douglas said. “We basically told him we want to be aggressive. We want to be up close in guys’ faces and we want to challenge and make throws tight.”

Playing "man-up" coverage would seemingly match Green Bay's talent. Both Alexander and Douglas can be extremely sticky and physical in coverage and third-year corner Eric Stokes has the size and speed to stick one-on-one with anyone down the field when healthy.

It's one thing to take feedback from players but it's another thing altogether to actually implement that feedback. To Barry's credit, though, Douglas said that Green Bay's defense has been more aggressive during fall camp. 

“So far that’s what he’s doing," Douglas said.

It will be interesting to see how this new approach translates during the regular season, but it would certainly be a welcome change for Packer fans.