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To be frank, Green Bay Packers defensive coordinator Joe Barry doesn’t care about the departure of Aaron Rodgers. It doesn’t affect his unit.
Barry was asked about Rodgers, who was traded by the franchise to the New York Jets this offseason, and he responded quite bluntly.
"You mentioned [Rodgers] and his honors. It really doesn’t matter on our side of the ball, the defensive side of the ball. That’s the thing that we’ve got to do week in and week out," Barry said, via Madison.com. "We’ve got to show up and play our best version of football, our best version of defense. We can’t be up one week and down the next. We’ve got to find that consistency and show up every single week.
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Quarterback Aaron Rodgers poses with a New York Jets jersey after a news conference at the NFL team's training facility in Florham Park, N.J., on April 26, 2023. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)
"The last five or six weeks of the season, we found that. We don’t have time to waste 10 weeks. We’re in May. That’s what OTAs are for. That’s what the offseason is for. That’s what training camp is for. But we’ve got to be much more consistent than we were a year ago, week in and week out."
The Packers found themselves in the middle of the pack in total yards allowed last season at 17th, with 336.5 yards given up per contest. They did very well with the pass game, finishing sixth-best with 197 yards allowed through the air.
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However, they struggled with the run game, giving up 139.5 rushing yards per contest, which was 26th in the NFL.
Rodgers’ offense wasn’t too consistent, either, for Green Bay, as the team struggled to consistently find points each week. In turn, the Packers finished 8-9 on the season, losing to the Detroit Lions in the final week to miss out on the playoffs.
Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers runs out on to the field as he is announced against the Detroit Lions at Lambeau Field. (Mark Hoffman / USA TODAY NETWORK)
That was Rodgers’ final game in a Packers uniform, and he knew that might have been the case as he walked out of Lambeau Field slowly with his longtime teammate, wide receiver Randall Cobb.
Now he and Cobb are on the Jets. Former Packer wide receiver Allen Lazard also joined them via free agency, as Gang Green looks to break the longest playoff drought in professional sports right now (12 seasons).
But that isn’t Barry’s concern. His defense won’t see the Jets this regular season.
Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers reacts after a play against the Tennessee Titans at Lambeau Field in Green Bay, Wisconsin, on Nov. 17, 2022. (Cooper Neill/Getty Images)
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Instead, he’s focused on getting his group ready, while hoping that defensive stops will help new Packers quarterback Jordan Love get good field position to put points on the board.