In Week 3, Green Bay Packers running back Eddie Lacy was not reminiscent of the player that won the offensive Rookie of the Year Award in 2013. The second-year back drew criticisms from coach Mike McCarthy after a rough game against the Detroit Lions and Lacy responded to those criticisms two days later.
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Lacy had a rough game against the Detroit Lions last week as he was tackled in the end zone for a safety, fumbled a ball that was returned for a touchdown and finished with just 36 rushing yards on 11 carries which has given him an average of 3.1 yards per carry through the first three weeks of the season.
McCarthy was vocally critical of Lacy after last week's 19-7 loss to the NFC North rival Lions saying he needs to "play better," and Lacy said he could see where his coach was coming from.
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"As a player, I think when a coach calls you out, that means he sees something in you that you can do or you need to work on and get better," Lacy said Wednesday per The Green Bay Press-Gazette.
Lacy also said that he believes he knows what has caused his struggles in this young campaign.
"I need to work on keeping my pads low," Lacy said. "There were a few times last week where I was running kind of high and I just figured that out. This week, definitely get my pads down when I'm running."
Just a day removed from Sunday's rough outing, McCarthy told the media he believed Lacy needs to improve.
"Eddie needs to play better," McCarthy said, according to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. "I'm not going to do this anymore. I don't correct individuals in the media. We've seen the film, corrections have been made, our running game wasn't nearly what it needed to be. Not even close."
The Packers offense as a whole has been out of sync thus far this season. Green Bay fell to the Seattle Seahawks (2-1) in Week 1 by a 36-16 margin and then the team narrowly escaped the New York Jets (1-2) in Week 2, digging their way out of an early hole and gaining help from an ill-timed timeout by New York that wiped out a touchdown to edge them out 31-24 at home.
The Packers then lost to the Lions in Week 3 in a game that saw McCarthy noticeably get upset over how the team was faring.
Lacy has 36 carries for 113 yards through three games this season and he is still looking for his first touchdown after rushing for 1,178 yards on 284 attempts and reaching the end zone 11 times as a rookie in 2013.
The Packers (1-2) travel to Chicago for a meeting with the Bears (2-1) in Week 3 action live from Soldier Field Sunday afternoon.
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