In his postgame press conference after the Packers complete demolition at the hands of the Detroit Lions, Matt LaFleur made it clear that something has to change about the way Green Bay's defense is playing. Yes, the likes of Jaire Alexander, Eric Stokes, and De'Vondre Campbell were out on Thursday, but there is no excuse for the way Joe Barry's group played.
It would be an odd occurrence for Barry to be fired during the season. Parting ways with any coordinator this early in the campaign isn't frequent in the NFL, especially not with a young defense. However, Barry should take LaFleur's postgame comments as a warning.
"We're going to have to do something different. It's insane to do the same things over and over again and expect different results," said LaFleur. "That's one of the best offensive lines in ball, but it's still inexcusable. You should be able to take one phase away. If you want to stop the run and commit to that, make them throw it over your head."
Packers Rumors: Is Joe Barry's job in jeopardy?
Joe Barry's job is not in jeopardy for now, despite LaFleur's comments. The only time a change would come is likely this offseason, when the entire coaching staff is subject to review. It was LaFleur's call to retain Barry after last season, which included an embarrassing final game effort against these same Lions. Few adjustments were made this time around, and Detroit notched over 200 yards rushing yet again.
Barry's poor performance and development of a young Packers defense is on him, but also LaFleur. Lombardi Avenue's Freddie Boston mentioned this in an article earlier this week:
"Retaining Barry was a mistake from LaFleur, but it's now up to the Packers' head coach to make adjustments to the defense himself. And if Barry doesn't go with it, it could be time to make an in-season change at defensive coordinator," Boston wrote.
Firing him now could set Green Bay back quite a bit.
