Eddie Lacy has taken this whole “lose weight or you’re done” thing seriously.
Weight has been an issue for the former Alabama star throughout his first three years as an NFL running back for the Green Bay Packers, but none worse than the 2015 season when he reportedly showed up to preseason training camp exceeding 240 pounds. He then followed it up with his worst performance to date, rushing for just 758 yards and five touchdowns.
Packers coach Mike McCarthy made it clear to Lacy that if he wanted to continue with his role as the feature back moving forward, he’d need to slim down. And fast.
“His off-season last year was not good enough — and he never recovered from it, so I had the chance to talk to Eddie and that was pretty much the majority of our conversation. He has to get it done because he cannot play at the weight he played at this year,” McCarthy said, according to Fox 6 Now.
Lacy has obviously taken it to heart.
“It needed to be said. It was said — and you can either take it the right way or the wrong way and I think I did a pretty good job of taking it positively and, you know, going take care of what I had to,” Lacy said.
His transformation is already quite noticeable. He showed up to this year’s training camp looking like a completely different player: thinner, more muscular, and possibly in the best shape of his life after losing what looks to be about 15-20 pounds this offseason, thanks to a workout routine with Tony Horton, who invented the P90X.
Last night, Lacy posted a picture to Twitter that shows his dedication to becoming the running back Green Bay needs:
Not much in this room, might as well be productive. #LateNight #BeachbodyPerformance #PackersCamp pic.twitter.com/kUJGodmFIv
— Eddie Lacy (@Lil_Eazy_Ana_42) August 6, 2016
“Eddie looks like Eddie — and he’s a big back and we’re just glad he’s on our team,” Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers said.
Green Bay will host its first preseason game of the season this Sunday, August 7, against the Indianapolis Colts at 8 p.m. ET.
Tyler Waddell is a member of the Saturday Down South news team. He brings over five years of professional journalism experience and is closing in on a Bachelor's in sports management. Follow him on Twitter (@Tyler_Waddell).
