Defense a work in progress
The Packers’ secondary is airtight, but the run defense under coordinator Joe Barry needs more work.
GREEN BAY - Ask the New York Jets and they’ll tell you the Green Bay Packers have a very good defense.
Ask the Packers and they’ll tell you they’re still a work in progress.
The Jets got a chance to face the Packers’ No. 1 defense in a joint practice Wednesday and despite the Packers being without key individuals such as outside linebackers Za’Darius Smith and Rashan Gary and cornerback Kevin King, all of whom are being brought back slowly from injury, they were eager to face the challenge.
With a rookie quarterback under center and an offensive line trying to find its footing after an abysmal offensive year (32nd overall, 29th in sacks allowed per play), the Jets felt this was a good test for them.
“This is like a Super Bowl-caliber team,” quarterback Zach Wilson said of the Packers after the teams completed the first of two joint practices Wednesday. “It’s awesome for us to come in against them and stack up and kind of take our best shot.”
If this were any of the previous nine or so training camps around here, most people would’ve spit out their coffee upon hearing “Packers defense” and “Super Bowl” uttered in the same sentence. The Packers were always trying to stack up against their opponents, not the other way around.
But through the addition of some high draft picks and some high-priced free agents, the Packers have built a competitive unit. The maturation of young players such as Jaire Alexander, Darnell Savage, Chandon Sullivan, Krys Barnes and Gary combined with a new defensive coordinator (Joe Barry) has the
Packers in a position to finally play winning defense.
They flashed some of that at the end of last season and Wednesday they flashed some of it against the Jets at a practice in which, unlike the exhibition opener against Houston, the No. 1 defense was allowed to line up against someone other than a teammate.
“We’re going against some cats who bring it every single snap, every single day,” Jets center Connor McGovern said.
Facing a rookie quarterback — even if he was the No. 2 pick in the draft — who is part of a strip-to-the-studs offensive remake and won’t have a Davante Adams or Aaron Jones to lean on, doesn’t provide the biggest test in the word for a defense that wants to compete for a Super Bowl.
But it did provide some examples of where the Packers need more work in Barry’s defense.
“I think we’re going to have to clean some stuff up in the meetings today,” safety Adrian Amos said. “But I think we played well. It’s great to play against somebody else other than our offense, which we see every single day.
“We get to see different bodies, different skill types and things like that.”
The area where the Packers were airtight was the secondary.
On seven plays inside the red zone, Wilson didn’t throw a touchdown pass. Twice Alexander broke up passes in the end zone and once Amos knocked down a pass he should have intercepted.
In the 2-minute drill, Wilson managed just 21 yards before stalling at the 39-yard line with five seconds left. He had time for a Hail Mary, but the two coaches decided they didn’t want players jumping on each other and risking an injury.
With Alexander on the verge of becoming a shutdown corner, Savage and Amos entering their third year together, Sullivan in his second full season at slot corner, first-round pick Eric Stokes starting to use his speed to his advantage and safeties Vernon Scott and Henry Black entering their second-year with playing experience under the belts, the secondary has a lot of promise.
“I think this is one of our more talented secondaries,” Amos said. “It’s very competitive. We have a lot of guys that can go. There’s not too many people I’m worried about if they have to go into the game.
“And, that’s what we have, that standard, we have that standard in the locker room. Everybody’s in there competing. A lot of us have played a lot of ball. And the young guys are willing to listen. That’s a big thing.”
Barry is part of the Vic Fangio coaching tree, having learned the defense under Brandon Staley, one of Fangio’s disciples who taught Barry the system when the two coached for the Los Angeles Rams last year. Fangio happened to be defensive coordinator in Chicago when Amos was there, so he has a working knowledge of the defense.
And he said Barry has him playing to his strengths, often as dime linebacker up near the line of scrimmage where he can help play the run, cover running backs in the flat and run with tight ends down the seam.
It just so happens the area where the defense doesn’t have it together yet is stopping the run. The Texans ran 37 times for 170 yards against the backups Saturday and one of the things the Jets did do well during practice was move the ball on the ground.
This defense is different than former coordinator Mike Pettine’s, where getting to the quarterback was the primary objective every down for the guys up front. Too often it resulted in gaps opening that opponents found ways to exploit in the run game.
Barry uses a five-man front as his base package and sometimes uses it with his nickel package, removing a linebacker instead of a defensive lineman for the extra cornerback.
“Our D-linemen are up the field, trying to disrupt stuff,” McGregor said of the Jets’ scheme. “This defense is more read. They play those tight techniques (narrow gaps between the defenders). They extend their hands, they’re not trying to give a whole lot of penetration in the backfield, they’re trying to make plays (instead of disrupt).”
To this point, some of the gap responsibilities and techniques Barry has them playing aren’t registering consistently. When the teams meet Saturday in an exhibition game, the Packers will get a better idea of how they’re playing the run, although LaFleur may sit starters again.
This Jets practice and the one Thursday are opportunities for Barry to show his guys where things went wrong when, for instance, La’Mical Perine slipped around the corner for an 11-yard touchdown or Tevin Coleman blasted through the middle for what would have been close to a 15-yard gain.
If Barry is going to move players around and try to create favorable matchups or exploit a team’s weakness during the season, he has to know the defense can still stop the run. It’s critical it leaves camp understanding how everything fits together.
“That’s something we have to get down as far as the right fits, the right responsibilities,” Amos said. “I’m very familiar with the grand scheme with Joe Barry, just seeing what they’ve done before. I’ve been in the system where we use the safeties in the run fit and different things like that.
“Me moving around within the secondary as well. I think that the more reps we all get at that, we can be very multiple as a defense.”
And the more things they can do well, the better chance they have of being a Super Bowl defense.