Eddie Lacy did not have the season he was hoping for. The running back struggled with injuries, criticism over his weight and production on the field which hurt his status with the Green Bay Packers. Lacy simply lacked consistency this year and now with the offseason set to begin, head coach Mike McCarthy is making it clear that the running back is on thin ice and needs to step things up before next year.
The run game in general lacked for Green Bay in 2015, but Lacy was deemed the biggest reason why. The running back was benched twice in the season for lack of production on the field following back-to-back 1,000-yard seasons. He put up kust 758 yards this season while recording a combined 152 yards in the playoffs. At one point Lacy looked like he had bounced back from his issues, but at the end of the season it was not enough for McCarthy who called out the running back to improve.
"Eddie Lacy, he's got a lot of work to do. His offseason last year was not good enough, and he never recovered from it," McCarthy said, via ESPN.com. "He cannot play at the weight he was at this year."
Lacy admitted that he took his foot off the gas this year. The running back rotated with James Starks this year and never really got in a groove. The Packers' offense in general was not good, but Lacy's issues were highlighted by the criticism of his weight something he must get control of if he wants to stay on the team.
"I think sometimes when things come easy to you, you kind of ease off a little bit and you get lax," Lacy said, via ESPN.com. "And things need to happen in order to wake you up and show you that it can be taken away, it can get difficult, but that's how I would say it."
The chances the Packers release Lacy this offseason are very slim, but other players might not be so lucky. James Jones is making it clear that he wants to be back in Green Bay this year. The wide receiver came over to the team following the injury to Jordy Nelson. He ended up recording a team-high 890 yards along with eight touchdowns. Jones was critical during injury stints to Davante Adams while replacing Ty Montgomery. He hopes he has shown enough to return.
"Man it was great to be back," Jones said, via the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. "Be back with my teammates, a lot of guys that I came in with for the first seven years of my career. It felt good. I wish it would have ended a different way. It didn't; but it felt good to be back. I've said it before, I would love to finish my career here. But I said that last time, so ... It's a crazy business. We'll see what happens."
Jones might not be a priority for the Packers right away. Starks, BJ Raji, Casey Hayward, Nick Perry and Michael Neal are all free agents this year and will be looking for returns as well. Jones could be a cheap contract for the Packers while giving them a high reward like he did this year.
