The Green Bay Packers don’t appear to be in any danger of not having running back Eddie Lacy on the field this weekend. However, he clearly isn’t fully healthy yet, either.
Lacy suffered a sprained ankle against Seattle in week 2. The injury occurred in the first quarter and Lacy didn’t return. While he played in week 3, the Packers gave more opportunities to James Starks than they did to Lacy.
Lacy carried 10 times for 46 yards and caught three balls for 41. Starks carried 17 times for 36 yards and caught one for 19. That’s a clear division of labor with Starks getting more work and there’s good reason for that.
Although he says it isn’t as bad as the ankle injury he suffered his rookie season, Lacy is still feeling the effects of this ankle injury.
“It’s better than that because it’s not going to be a lingering thing. It’s going away. My rookie year, it really didn’t go away,” Lacy said Thursday.
“Clearly I wasn’t my old self (last week), but I was able to go out and make a few plays.”
In Lacy’s rookie season, the Packers needed him to carry the load. They were without Aaron Rodgers, who had a broken collarbone, and relied on Lacy to move the offense.
He did, but they don’t need him to do that now.
Rodgers is healthy, they can go easy on Lacy because of Starks’ presence and it’s early in the season.
When Lacy was carrying the Packers in 2013, they were desperately trying to stay in the playoff race without Rodgers. At the moment, they are firmly in control of their own destiny.
While we fully expect Lacy to play on Sunday, we don’t expect him to dominate the running back touches and with good reason.
Save him for later in the year when he can pound fools.
I’d say give Harris some more tries.