Packers coach thinks Eddie Lacy can carry the ball 30-plus times a game
By Mike Dyce
The Green Bay Packers lost starting quarterback Aaron Rodgers to a broken collarbone and will be forced to rely more on their running game. That means Eddie Lacy will be force fed the ball, possibly more than 30 times in a game.
“Obviously, you want to keep him down around 25-20, somewhere in there,” Packers running back coach Alex Van Pelt said, via the Green Bay Press-Gazette. “Twenty nine was a little high. Over 30 would probably be too high, but hey he might have to carry it 35 times. Who knows? The game will dictate that to us. Hopefully, that won’t be the case, but if it is, he’s fully capable of doing it.”
In his last five games, Lacy has averaged 23.8 carries per game. Most games he had either 22 or 23 carries with a single 29 carry game against the Minnesota Vikings at the end of October.
In the game against the Bears when Rodgers went down, Lacy played particularly well. He broke 9 tackles and carried the ball 22 times for 150 yards.
“It was kind of evident on the sideline that when Aaron went down, we knew we had to pick up our game at that position and contribute more than we were,” Van Pelt said. “The longer the game went on, the stronger he got as far as far as breaking tackles. That’s good.”