GREEN BAY, Wis. — Maybe it was just a coaching problem rather than a personnel issue after all.

Could Texas A&M defensive lineman Shemar Stewart be part of the solution to the Green Bay Packers’ pass-rush issues? Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

At this point, that’s a reasonable conclusion to draw about the Green Bay Packers’ lack of pass rush from its front four last season.

That’s because the only significant offseason change the Packers have made in that regard the position coach, where coach Matt LaFleur fired defensive line coach Jason Rebrovich and hired Demarcus Covington, who last season served as the Patriots defensive coordinator. Covington is also expected to serve as the defensive run game coordinator, although the Packers have not announced any official titles for new staff members yet.

The first wave of free agency came and went without an addition to the pass-rushing unit by general manager Brian Gutekunst. Among those who left in free agency was defensive tackle T.J. Slaton (who signed with the Bengals), but he was more of a run stopper than a pass rusher.

“We’ve got to be able to get after the quarterback with four,” Gutekunst said shortly before free agency opened. “We’ve got to affect the quarterback more with just four players. How we do that will probably evolve, and we’ll see how that goes, but those guys have to get a little better and be more consistent.”

Given Gutekunst’s track record in the draft, there’s a strong chance he will use a high draft pick on the defensive side of the ball. Since he began running the Packers’ personnel department in 2018, he has used seven of his nine first-round picks on defensive players. Three times since 2019, he’s used his first-round pick on a defensive front player. Twice, they have been edge rushers: Rashan Gary in 2019 and Lukas Van Ness in 2023. The third one, Devonte Wyatt in 2022, was an interior defensive lineman.

The Packers have already hosted several defensive front players on pre-draft visits, according to multiple reports, including Texas A&M’s Shemar Stewart and Tennessee’s James Pearce Jr.

Not that one game necessarily changed Gutekunst’s thinking, but the wild-card playoff loss to the Philadelphia Eagles showed just how impactful a great pass rush could be. Philadelphia blitzed Jordan Love exactly once, yet he was under pressure on 27.7% of his dropbacks, according to ESPN Research and NFL Next Gen Stats.

The Eagles took that a step further in the Super Bowl, when they didn’t blitz Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes a single time but put Mahomes under heavy pressure.

In his first season as defensive coordinator, Green Bay’s Jeff Hafley tried to follow that formula. The Packers had the second-lowest blitz rate (18.2%) in the regular season, according to NFL Next Gen Stats, but couldn’t generate the results the Eagles did. Green Bay ranked 22nd in the NFL in pressure percentage, defined as times when the quarterback was sacked, hit or under duress.

“I envisioned rushing four and playing three deep, four under a heck of a lot more. And we ended up doing a lot of simulated blitzes and different pressures and playing a bunch of Cover 2,” Packers coach Matt LaFleur said this offseason. “But I think, again, you always evolve throughout the course of the season, through the offseason — but that was the foundation, I would say, of the defense. But I thought our guys did a great job of adjusting. I thought we were playing some pretty good football at the end.”

Still, LaFleur made a change on his staff up front. Under Rebrovich, Van Ness (No. 13 pick in 2023) failed to develop into a consistent pass rusher. Heading into Year 3, it might be a now-or-never situation for Van Ness. Kingsley Enagbare, a 2022 first-round pick, played more snaps last season (511) and had more sacks (4.5) and quarterback hits (eight) than Van Ness (428 snaps, 3 sacks and 6 quarterback hits).

“We talked a little bit about [how] we need to affect the quarterback more in our front four, with just four players, and Lukas is a big part of that,” Gutekunst said. “He does everything he can. He’s everything you want in a professional as far as his work ethic and what he puts into it, and I expect him to take a big jump this year.”

Fellow edge rusher Gary has not become the consistent force the Packers had hoped. On the interior of the line, veteran Kenny Clark had one of his least impactful seasons.

Gutekunst traded defensive end Preston Smith at the deadline last season, forcing the Packers to use former undrafted players Arron Mosby and Brenton Cox Jr. more often.

Perhaps scheme adjustments by Hafley and the addition of Covington will result in more production.

“If there’s ability there, he will find it,” said a coach who previously worked with Covington in New England. “I would expect them to make a jump.”