Shortly after challenging Eddie Lacy to streamline his body in January, Packers coach Mike McCarthy expressed "great confidence" that the rotund running back would report to offseason practices in better shape.
Appearing on Tuesday's edition of NFL Network's NFL HQ, NFL Media's Albert Breer added context to the recent photographic evidence that Lacy has succeeded in slimming down via workouts with P90X founder Tony Horton in Los Angeles.
Breer described Lacy's transformation as a "remarkable" redistribution of weight from his midsection to his shoulders and arms.
"I know the people around Eddie Lacy really feel like the Packers are going to be happy," Breer added, "with what they see when Lacy reports for the offseason program next week."
Teammate Datone Jones also stopped by NFL HQ on Tuesday, joking that he's "kind of jealous" of Lacy's results over the past two months.
Lacy's camp has been known to embellish his fitness level, per Breer, so the Packers will take a wait-and-see approach. Whereas his listed weight is 234 pounds, those who cover the team believe he was in the 260 range during a miserable 2015 season.
McCarthy firmly believes Lacy has learned that he can't shake nagging injuries and make tacklers miss if he's carrying too much weight.
"I think we'll see definitely a different guy in April," McCarthy said in late February, "and more importantly in July."
A long-held NFL truism is that "the eye in the sky doesn't lie." The game film shows that Lacy is one of the NFL's top 10 running backs when healthy and in reasonable football shape.
Going back to 2014, he was the only player in the league to exceed 100 yards from scrimmage in each season's final nine games, totaling 1,111 yards and nine touchdowns over that dominant stretch.
Although the Packers took out a backfield insurance policy by re-signing James Starks, they understand the offense functions at its highest level when a motivated Lacy is featured at tailback.
