In his first two years in the NFL, Green Bay Packers running back Eddie Lacy was solid, rushing for 1,000 yard each year. More importantly, he could be depended on to put the game away late. But in 2015, Lacy was a disappointment, rushing for only 758 yards on a whole lot less carries.
Gone were the days that head coach Mike McCarthy put the ball in his hands to ice the game away. The reasons why is that he was too heavy, out of shape and the nagging injuries came with it. So the first thing McCarthy did at season’s end was challenge Lacy to get his weight down and into better condition.
On Tuesday’s edition of NFL Network’s NFL HQ, NFL Media’s Albert Breer spoke of Lacy slimming down. Breer said that he’s been working out with P90X founder Tony Horton in Los Angeles. The Milwaukee Journal Sentinal has photos of a much slimmer version of Lacy already.
Beer said Lacy’s transformation was a “remarkable redistribution of weight from his midsection to his shoulders and arms.” McCarthy believes Lacy now knows he can’t shake those nagging injuries or carry the load while he’s carrying too much weight. He said, “I think we’ll see definitely a different guy in April and more importantly in July.”
The Packers took out a backfield insurance policy by re-signing James Starks, whom I like better because he’s always in shape. But I have to admit that when Lacy is healthy and in football shape, the Packers offense is better. And Lacy already looks more ready now than he did all of last season giving them one of three stars back that were lost last year.
WR Jordy Nelson, who missed all of 2015 due to injury, is another star the Packers get back. Clay Matthews moving back to OLB from ILB gives the team their third and a superstar at that. That’s the difference between a playoff run and a Super Bowl run, especially when Aaron Rodgers is your quarterback.
Watch out for the Pack!
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