Eddie Lacy was wearing a walking boot on his right foot Wednesday in the locker room, as he has everywhere except to games since spraining his ankle against the Atlanta Falcons in Week 14.
The boot is mostly precautionary, as is the decision to hold the rookie running back out of a few practices the last two weeks.
“It looks pretty cool,” Lacy said of his protective footwear.
However the boot makes Lacy look, there is no doubt what Lacy is: a grinding, three-down, 1,000-yard rusher who has transformed the Packers’ running game.
Lacy is also a deserving candidate for the NFL’s Offensive Rookie of the Year Award.
The former Alabama running back has amassed 1,028 yards, just 77 short of breaking John Brockington’s Packers rookie record of 1,105 yards, and eight touchdowns, a first for a rookie in franchise history. He’s tied with Brockington for the most 100-yard games in a rookie season with four.
Lacy leads all rookies in yards, with 174 more than his closest competition, St. Louis’ Zac Stacy. He is seventh overall in rushing in the NFL, and is No. 1 in the NFL over the last 11 games, since returning from a concussion that made him miss most of two games early in the season.
Lacy, who was named the NFL Rookie of the Week in Week 9 and NFL Rookie of the Month in October, found out Wednesday morning during a team meeting that his 141-yard performance and 1-yard dive to score the game-winning touchdown last week against the Dallas Cowboys earned him the NFC Offensive Player of the Week Award.
“Eddie, he’s a special player. Especially the way he’s playing as a rookie,” quarterback Matt Flynn said. “It’s really helping us. … I have a front row seat to watch him and it’s fun. Right now, in December, you have to have it.”
His hard running the last few weeks has mostly come against defenses stacked at the line of scrimmage to stop him, with MVP quarterback Aaron Rodgers sidelined with a broken collarbone.
“The thing with Eddie is, he’s never satisfied,” guard T.J. Lang said. “He’ll rush for a 10-yard gain and be mad at himself because he didn’t make another guy miss. That’s the attitude you love to see. He’s always looking for more.
“He’s a tough guy to bring down. He’s always capable of making a big play for you. He’ll get you the tough yards that you need to get you in manageable down and distances. It’s fun blocking for a back like that.”
Lacy does have competition for the Offensive Rookie of the Year Award, especially from San Diego’s Keenan Allen.
A receiver drafted in the third round, Allen has 931 receiving yards and seven touchdowns, despite not cracking the starting lineup for the Chargers earlier in the season. Since getting in the starting lineup, Allen has five 100-yard receiving games.
Unlike Lacy, who ranks seventh in the league in rushing yards and is tied for fifth in the league for rushing touchdowns, Allen isn’t in the top 10 in either receiving yards or touchdowns.
Lacy has two more weeks to impress skeptics and outperform the competition.
One of those skeptics might be coaching on the sideline Sunday. Steelers coach Mike Tomlin said this week that it was an easy choice for him to take running back Le’Veon Bell over Lacy in the 2013 NFL Draft. The Steelers took Bell in the second round with the 48th pick, letting Lacy fall to the Packers with the 61st pick.
Lacy was the fourth running back taken in the draft, behind Bell, Giovani Bernard, who went to Cincinnati with the 37th pick, and Montee Ball, who went to Denver with the 58th pick.
“They picked the guy they wanted, and I landed here,” Lacy said. “I’m very happy here and doing good here. I think it worked out.”
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