Packers DC Joe Barry owns up to team’s defensive struggles: ‘When things don’t go right, it is on me’

It hasn’t been pretty for Joe Barry and the Green Bay Packers defense.

The eye test is one thing. Despite having a unit full of first-round talent (Kenny Clark, Devonte Wyatt, Lukas Van Ness, Quay Walker, Rashan Gary, Darnell Savage and when healthy, Jaire Alexander and Eric Stokes) Green Bay’s defense is the definition of Swiss cheese.

The Packers are soft. They’re easy to run on and prone to giving up massive plays via the air.

The stats bear it out as well. The Packers give up 349.9 yards per game with 138.8 of those coming on the ground. Their rush defense is third-worst in the NFL.

With the Packers taking back-to-back defeats that essentially lost them a playoff spot, Barry has been in the hot seat, to say the least. Not that Matt LaFleur’s offense has been perfect, but that’s a young unit brimming with potential that looks great when it clicks.

Barry’s defense has been the reason Green Bay has lost its last two games while making Tommy DeVito and Baker Mayfield look like Hall of Famers. 

That’s the reason this has been such a rough week for Barry. He explained it to the media on Thursday.

“Losing sucks. Always. But, yeah, I’d be lying to you if I said — this week in particular was hard,” Barry said. “It was hard on me, hard on my family. But this is the National Football League. This is what you signed up for.”

Barry also took responsibility for Green Bay’s defensive struggles. LaFleur was clear earlier in the week that much of what is ailing the defense had to do with communication. 

Outside of calling the plays in-game, Barry admitted that communication is basically his job description.

“That’s part of my title as the coordinator, to get it coordinated. When things don’t go right, it is on me,” Barry said. “It is frustrating. You would think at this point things would be running smoothly”