Baltimore Ravens’ Courtney Upshaw Dealing With Weight Issues
By Josh Sanchez
Baltimore Ravens linebacker Courtney Upshaw has publicly admitted he is facing weight issues this season and he claims that “personal issues” are to blame. With OTAs and minicamps heating up, it is more evident than ever that Upshaw, who is up 15 pounds from his playing weight his rookie season, needs to change his diet. Ravens head coach John Harbaugh touched on the situation and his comment was Upshaw simply eats too much junk food.
Harbaugh had one message for the Ravens linebacker — “Put down the snacks.”
“He’s working really hard, [but] Courtney’s weight issue – which he does need to lose some pounds – is that he doesn’t eat right,” Harbaugh said, via the Carroll County Times. “Courtney eats too much, and he doesn’t eat all the right foods. He knows that’s something that he’s going to have to get a handle on or he’s not going to be the best he can be. He’s aware of it. We have everybody in our building involved in it. He’ll be in fighting shape. I promise you that.”
Upshaw has plenty of time to start dieting and get his weight back on the right track, and if he is able to do that his head coach has some positive words to say about the young player.
“My first thought is that he is playing pretty well,” Harbaugh said. “That’s my first thought. He understands the defense exceptionally well.”
His second thought is that the snacks are getting in the way.
Baltimore is going to need a lot of players to step up this season after losing a number of the key defenders from their Super Bowl winning roster, so Upshaw would be helping much more than himself if he is able to step away from the junk food.