GREEN BAY, Wis. -- There have been times, dating back to his college days playing for Nick Saban at Alabama, when Eddie Lacy’s easy-going personality has been misconstrued as disinterest -- or even apathy.
“Because I’m so laid back, a lot of people do mistake it. They think, maybe I just don’t care. Or something like that,” the Green Bay Packers’ third-year running back said Monday, as the team prepped for Thursday night’s game at Detroit. “Which is not the case.”
Misunderstood or not, Lacy’s roll-with-the-punches approach has proven to be invaluable to him this season, as he’s endured the most challenging year of his young career. From a slow start, to dealing with ankle and groin injuries, to being publicly demoted out of the starting lineup by coach Mike McCarthy, Lacy has faced more adversity this year than ever before.
And even when things have gone well -- like in the past two games, as he’s delivered the first back-to-back 100-yard rushing performances of his career, including a 105-yard effort in last Thursday’s loss to Chicago -- he’s also had to deal with getting benched during the second quarter for losing a fumble that led to a Bears touchdown.
“I think my season has been a bit of a roller-coaster. [But] it’s starting to level out,” said Lacy, who enters this week’s game having rushed 122 times for 513 yards (4.2-yard average) and two touchdowns after posting a pair of 1,100-yard seasons his first two years in the league.
“I’ve been pretty even-keeled through the whole thing. I just think it shows you that not every year or not every season is going to go the way that you want it to, but I think it’s all about how you respond to adversity. Like, when I went to second-string, I could have easily gotten mad or rebelled against their decision. Who knows how that would have affected me and the team? But I just think it’s how you respond to adversity. I took it, whenever I got a chance to go out and play, I went out and played, and that’s all I can do as a person. I can only control me and what I can.”
Lacy didn’t play in the Packers’ Nov. 15 loss to the Lions at Lambeau Field because of a groin injury, and at the time he’d managed just 308 yards on 83 carries (3.7-yard average). But he carried 22 times for 100 yards at Minnesota on Nov. 22 and followed that up with 105 yards on 17 carries against the Bears on Thanksgiving night, when he also added four receptions for 34 yards, including a 25-yard catch-and-run touchdown.
He had 106 yards from scrimmage on 14 touches at the time of his fumble, which was his fourth in five games (two lost) and led McCarthy to bench him for the rest of the first half. Lacy had just seven carries for 33 yards thereafter.
“From a competitive standpoint, of course any competitor wants to go out and make up for what they’ve just done,” Lacy said. “I wanted to, but it just wasn’t the time. It was time for me to chill on the side for a little while.”
Lacy smiled as he said that, which is exactly the attitude that people misinterpret.
“I think [my personality] allows me to be a lot more patient and endure a lot more because I’m so laid back,” Lacy said. “And I think the way I am definitely helped me throughout this roller-coaster of a season so far.”