Packers star running back who was expected to dominate is being demoted, and now he's denying being injured and overweight
Going into his third season, at just 25 years old, Lacy had already topped 1,000 rushing yards and 10 touchdowns in each of his first two seasons.
With Aaron Rodgers missing his top target in Jordy Nelson for the season, it seemed the offense would rely heavily on Lacy, a bruising running back with improving receiving skills.
Instead, Lacy has been arguably the NFL's biggest disappointment through nine weeks. In eight games, Lacy has just 308 rushing yards on 83 carries, 97 receiving yards on 10 catches, with two touchdowns and three total fumbles. He's averaging a career-low 3.7 yards per carry and his longest carry has only been 16 yards.
And it seems like Lacy's season is turning even further downhill. Earlier this week, Packers coach Mike McCarthy confirmed that Lacy was being demoted and backup running back James Starks would be the starter.
Some of Lacy's struggles have been, unquestionably, because of an ankle injury in Week 2 vs. the Seahawks. He missed most of that game, was limited in Week 3, and didn't look quite the same thereafter.
There was also speculation that Lacy came into the season overweight and out of shape. McCarthy admitted to ESPN's Rob Demovsky that Lacy is heavier than he was as a rookie, but he didn't think it was an issue. A Packers source told Demovsky that at training camp weigh-ins, Lacy was 242 lb., up from the 234 he's listed at by the Packers.
On Wednesday, Lacy told Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel's Michael Cohen that he's healthy and not overweight, and he doesn't know the source of his struggles:
"My ankle's cool... I honestly don't know what it is. Definitely, I'm off to a different start. I'm not playing how I was the previous two years. Later on in the season, maybe it'll pick back up. But as of right now, this is just the move that is going to be. This season (Starks) has definitely been the better player between the both of us. That's just the move."
The Packers aren't glowing with support for Lacy, either.
McCarthy said, "I would say James is our No. 1 back right now going into Detroit. He's played very well."
Aaron Rodgers sounded as if Lacy's dominance is a thing of the past, saying, "You know we had a lot of confidence in Eddie, and we know what kind of football player he is.
He added, "We're going to need him throughout the season. He's a bruising back. You turn on the film of last year's game against the Lions in Week 17 and he looked incredible."
Lacy doesn't seem to have given up on his season, however. He noted how he got off to a slow start last season, racking up 929 total yards and 9 total touchdowns in the second half of the season.
"Who knows how long it's going to be like this," Lacy said. "Maybe things pick back up for me and it's right back and we're never having this discussion again. You don't know where this could lead to. But as of right now, for the team, this is pretty much the best move."
For the Packers, this is an unfortunate turn of events for their offense. While Starks has been solid, he hasn't been an elite runner like Lacy has shown he can be. With their receiving corps struggling badly with injuries, the timing couldn't be worse for Lacy to have a miserable season.