National Football League

Eddie Lacy defends Mike McCarthy for weight loss comments

Published Jul. 27, 2016 1:27 a.m. ET

foxsports

Eddie Lacy could have responded negatively to his head coach telling him he had to lose weight, but instead he went the other way.

Lacy heard his coach loud and clear when Mike McCarthy said after the Green Bay Packers’ season ended that Lacy needed to lose weight. So the beefy running back got with trainer Tony Horton and was able to lose about 15-20 pounds this offseason. The weight loss was apparently visible when the Packers opened training camp on Tuesday.

The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel estimates that Lacy looked like he weighed around 240 pounds. They figure he still has a little more to lose.

Lacy also told reporters that he agreed with McCarthy’s message about weight loss.

“It needed to be said,” Lacy said via the Journal Sentinel. “It was said, and you can either take it the right way or the wrong way. I think I did a pretty good job of taking it positively and taking care of what I had to.”

Lacy entered the NFL as a rookie in 2013 weighing around 230 pounds. He was easily over 250 pounds and probably closer to 260 last season when he disappointed with just 758 rushing yards. He’s looking to rebound to his form from his first two seasons in the league when he rushed for over 1,100 yards both years. The Packers hope this new attitude will be part of a return to excellence for the former Alabama running back.

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