Packers DC Joe Barry entering make-or-break year

The Green Bay Packers defense is coming off a disappointing season that was filled with high expectations coming in. The unit seemed poised to take a big step in 2022 and instead, it took a step -or two- back before finally finding its footing late in the year.

That can't happen this year. And defensive coordinator Joe Barry knows that.

"We've got to show up and play our best version of football, our best version of defense," Barry told reporters Tuesday. "We can't be up one week and down the next. We've got to find that consistency and show up every single week. The last five or six weeks of the season, we found that. We don't have time to waste 10 weeks."

A big reason the defense struggled was because of Week 9 injuries to starters Rashan Gary and Eric Stokes, but even then, the defense still allowed five straight games of 23+ points over the course of those nine weeks. Overall, things didn't really click until Week 13 and it's left Barry in a make-or-break situation heading into 2023.

"I definitely think we evolved last year into what worked for us, but the key thing is you've got to do that early. You've got to do it now," said Barry. "We lost a couple of guys, but we've got a great group of guys. Just working with them the last five weeks, we get four more weeks with them before we break and I'm just excited about the process."

It's not like the Packers are lacking talent on defense. With rookie Lukas Van Ness now in the fold, the team has eight former first-rounders on the defensive roster. Six of the eight players figure to play significant snaps in 2023, as well, with Eric Stokes and Van Ness the lone exceptions. And, even, then - Stokes will be the primary backup at outside corner and Van Ness will still be a big part of the pass rush rotation.

Outside of the starting safety position opposite Darnell Savage and figuring out exactly what he wants to at nickel, Barry returns largely the same cast of characters he had in 2022. The same cast that was supposed to be a part of a top-5 defense, at worst. 

So, meeting expectations squarely falls on Barry's shoulders. The good thing is he's willing to take on the challenge. It's just more of whether or not he's capable of coming out clean?

"That's the great thing about having this word on our chest," said Barry as he pointed to the word "Packers" on his hoodie during his press conference. "...is that we're Green Bay Packers and the expectations of this place are high all the time. That's great. I love it." 

Unless the entire defense is ravaged by injury, there's no excuse for Barry to miss the mark when it comes to expectations in 2023. This is Year 3 - if it doesn't work this year, then it's likely never going to work.

And we all know what that would mean for Barry, unfortunately.