The Green Bay Packers are optimistic that running back MarShawn Lloyd can maintain his health this season. Offensive assistant coaches highlighted their confidence in Lloyd as a key player for the team's running game.
GREEN BAY – In their first public remarks this offseason, the Green Bay Packers offensive assistant coaches gave updates at their groups. Here are some highlights.
Running backs coach Ben Sirmans believes the Packers have enough options on the roster to be Josh Jacobs’ primary backup this season, even after the team let Emanuel Wilson leave in free agency.
There’s one option he’s particularly interested in seeing.
“Obviously we all know who we’re waiting,” Sirmans said. “Is it time?”
Packers running backs coach Ben Sirmans speaks with the media May 6 at Lambeau Field.
The Packers are in their third season of waiting for 2024 third-round draft pick MarShawn Lloyd to stay on the field. He’s never been consistently healthy, playing only 10 snaps in his first two years.
“He did something that he hasn’t done before working with a [training] group,” Sirmans said, “which was his first time in the offseason working with a group. So I think that gave him a lot of confidence. He talked about how much stronger he is just in the lower half of his body, stronger than he’s ever been. So with all those things giving him confidence, and he’s got a regimen that he does before we even go out to practice.
Packers' running backs coach Ben Sirmans expressed optimism that MarShawn Lloyd can stay healthy and contribute significantly this season.
The Packers believe they have enough options on the roster to find a primary backup for Josh Jacobs, with MarShawn Lloyd being a key focus.
Emanuel Wilson was let go by the Packers in free agency, prompting the team to seek alternatives for the running back position.
The Packers are exploring their options for the running back position, with a particular emphasis on MarShawn Lloyd's potential impact.
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“So we’re very optimistic, but we’ve all been optimistic before. So we’ve just got to wait and see what’s going to happen, but he feels confident, I feel confident that he’s finally gotten to the point where he can be in there and be ready to play a full season.”
Sirmans said it’s tempting to be careful with Lloyd during the offseason, not wanting to push his body too much after a litany of soft-tissue injuries in his first two seasons. But he hasn’t tweaked his on-field program for this spring, knowing his body will need to endure the rigors of football eventually.
“If something doesn’t go right,” Sirmans said, “it’s better to find out now than later when you get into the season. As long as he’s rolling and feeling confident, we are too and just operating like everything is going to be fine.”
Sirmans said Lloyd has a “really good plan” for his physical maintenance after focusing on injury prevention the past couple of years. If he can somehow stay healthy, it could go a long way toward securing the Packers’ backfield depth. Talent has never been the question for Lloyd.
“He gives you something alongside with Josh,” Sirmans said. “He can do things the other guys can’t in terms of his speed and quickness. I don’t want to say they can’t, but not at the level he does it, because he’s the fastest and the quickest guy we have. If he’s healthy, and again that’s what we’re counting on him to be there, it does make our job easier for having another guy back there that’s going to add some explosiveness to this offense.”
After Jayden Reed signed his contract extension last month, Packers passing game coordinator Jason Vrable asked his receiver how he planned to celebrate the big pay day. The answer Vrable got, he said, reminded him why Reed was his favorite interview before the 2023 NFL Draft.
“He was like, ‘Probably taking my brother and my girl out to Outback or something,’” Vrable said. “It wasn’t anything crazy. Just going to go eat dinner. He said, “And then I think we’re going to see the Michael Jackson movie.’ So he’s not going to change who he is. He’s a worker. He represents the G in the right way.”
Reed’s extension was part of a process that has seemed to pare down the Packers passing game this offseason. Reed is entrenched as the starting slot receiver, while Christian Watson and Matthew Golden will line up mostly on the perimeter, and tight end Tucker Kraft will provide a safety valve for Jordan Love underneath.
Packers passing game coordinator Jason Vrable meets with the media May 6 at Lambeau Field.
Vrable said he still wants the Packers to be loaded with depth, telling Matt LaFleur before every season he wants 10 good receivers on the roster for training camp. There is less depth now with Romeo Doubs signing as a free agent with New England and Dontayvion Wicks traded to Philadelphia, but Vrable said the passing game won’t be limited to the top four. He’s particularly intrigued with what 2025 third-round draft pick Savion Williams can contribute.
“I think he’s one of those guys nobody is really talking about now, kind of almost forgotten to the outside world,” Vrable said, “but I’m really proud of where he’s at right now both mentally and physically. I’m excited to see when the pads come on, because he’s one of those guys I think when the pads aren’t on, you might not know how dominant this guy can be. But when the pads come on and he’s breaking tackles like he did in the Steelers game and running over guys for touchdowns, you’re talking about an extra 5, 10, 15 yards.
“I think his college tape, if you were to watch his highlights of him breaking tackles, I look at him kind of in the Tucker Kraft role of the YAC [yards after catch] ability with the strength and power.
Tyrod Taylor made a noticeable first impression when he walked into his first Packers meeting. “You could feel the presence, the confidence, the composure,” quarterbacks coach Luke Getsy said. He didn’t wait to introduce himself either.
This isn’t his first rodeo.
Packers quarterbacks coach Luke Getsy meets with the media May 6 at Lambeau Field.
In his 16th NFL season, Taylor could become the first veteran quarterback to back up Jordan Love. He’s at least in line to be QB2 after the Packers released Desmond Ridder as their corresponding move after adding Taylor to the roster.
“The thing about Tyrod,” Getsy said, “when he walked in the door, his comfortability, he walked in and it was like, hey, there’s a new guy in the room. He already knew, ‘I’m going to stand up, I’m going to say my name, I’m going to say where I’m from.’ You didn’t have to tell him to do any of that stuff. Even that kind of thing. Or you start talking about protections, he knows where the keys are. He knows what the situation is and what his adjustments might have to be already without even being in our system. I think that’s just a really cool thing.”
Offensive line coach Luke Butkus had his first chance this offseason to share how he plans to improve a Packers offensive line that struggled throughout last season.
“With offensive line play,” Butkus said, “it’s about the fundamentals of blocking people.
“To get better, the only way I know how to get better, is go back to fundamentals. Your technique, pad level, talking about playing with leverage. When you were a kid playing football, what did the coach say to the offensive lineman, that he might not have played the offensive line position? The low man wins. Playing with leverage. Your pads under the defender’s pads, your hands inside the defender’s hands, and that gives you a chance. Then there’s a million other things that we have to talk about, but just going back to the fundamentals of the position.”
This article originally appeared on Packers News: Packers ‘very optimistic’ running back MarShawn Lloyd can stay healthy