Mike McCarthy Says Eddie Lacy Needs To Lose Weight

Despite having Aaron Rodgers under center, this wasn’t a banner year for the Green Bay Packers’ offense. Jordy Nelson missed the entire season, play calling duty changed hands and running back Eddie Lacy wasn’t effective at all.

But during his season ending press conference, head coach Mike McCarthy explained what the issue could have been: Lacy was too heavy.

Well, I mean Eddie Lacy, he’s got a lot of work to do. I think I’m stating the obvious. His offseason last year was not good enough and he never recovered from it. I had a chance to talk to Eddie today and that was pretty much the majority of our whole conversation. So he has to get it done because he cannot play at the weight that he played at this year.

Lacy only carried the ball 187 times for 758 yards and three touchdowns this season. He was also benched twice during the regular season, first for a lack of performance and then for missing curfew before a game.

Interestingly, Lacy’s fitness came up during the season when he was benched for the first time. McCarthey said he had no issue with the running back’s weight at the time.

Next year will be the final year of Lacy’s contract, which could be the extra push he needs to slim down. The Packers, for all their offensive weapons, will hope that he’s in better shape, too.

Photo: Eddie Lacy, running back for the Green Bay Packers, during the August training camp in 2014 by Kyle Engman via Wikimedia Commons.

Article by Joe Kozlowski