Eddie Lacy will likely return in Week 5?
Green Bay Packers feature back Eddie Lacy suffered a concussion in Sunday’s win over the Washington Redskins after taking a disgusting helmet-to-helmet hit from Brandon Meriweather (this guy seriously needs to get ahold of himself, and I was especially bothered by the fact that he celebrated following that hit). Lacy was quickly ruled out for the remainder of the game following the hit, and the concussion appears to be one that will put him on the shelf for a couple of weeks, but the Packers have not released any info regarding the extent of his injury.
Green Bay Packers running back Eddie Lacy (27) carries the ball against the San Francisco 49ers during the first quarter at Candlestick Park. Mandatory Credit: Kelley L Cox-USA TODAY Sports
What we do know is that the Packers have a bye week in Week 4 before facing off against a division rival in the Detroit Lions, so Lacy will either not miss any time and play against the Cincinnati Bengals or will merely rest up for a couple of weeks before taking on the Lions. According to the Green Bay Press-Gazette, the Packers will “most likely” not play Eddie Lacy against the Bengals and will give him the bye week to rest up.
That seems like the most logical and prudent course of action to me, because they should take advantage of the bye week and extra rest and just let James Starks carry the rock against Cincy. While Lacy is the better player, Starks had a monster game against the Redskins, and he could use another game to potentially impress. The worry, though, is that the Bengals are such a good team that the Packers would rather be at full strength, but I don’t think it’s worth risking bringing a rookie RB back too soon. At this point, the best thing to do is to get him to rest for the bye, and I bet he’ll be healthy enough to do well against the Lions. John Kuhn’s injury complicates things and leaves the Packers thinner in the backfield than they would like, but it’s best to let Lacy rest.
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