MarShawn Lloyd; ‘Going To Be Fun’ To Finally Play With Josh Jacobs

There’s nowhere to go but up for Green Bay Packers rookie MarShawn Lloyd.

“Been a very, very rough year,” the potential-packed running back said on Monday, a day after a season-ending loss to the Philadelphia Eagles.

First, there was a hip injury before the official start of training camp. Hamstring and ankle injuries followed. Just as he was about to return to the lineup, he was stricken by appendicitis.

“You can’t make this stuff up,” coach Matt LaFleur said at the time.

As he recovered from that, he reinjured the hamstring. It was that injury that officially ended his season.

He played 10 snaps in his one and only game.

“I’m excited for what’s to come,” Lloyd said. “The year didn’t pan out how I wanted to. Even though I wasn’t playing, I still wanted our team to make it to the Super Bowl. It’s a learning experience. I’m super-excited. I know how to take myself throughout the season, what I need to do to get to where I need to get to.”

After being shut down twice by hamstring injuries, Lloyd saw specialists at the University of Wisconsin last week, just like receiver Christian Watson and cornerback Eric Stokes after last season.

Lloyd spent about 5 hours in Madison to find the “deficiencies” in his body.

“The science around it is crazy,” he said.

The specialists worked wonders for Watson and Stokes, who had no soft-tissue problems this season. With a plan in place, Lloyd has started preparing for 2025, eager to put his run of bad luck behind him.

“It was hard in the beginning, especially being the rookie,” Lloyd said of the mental aspect of having one setback after another. “Having so (many) things you want to do as a rookie but not being able to do it definitely was a lot. But just knowing that I plan on having a long career in this league, so I just got to just take what I can and go from there.”

While Lloyd spent week after week after week riding a stationary bike inside the Don Hutson Center while his teammates got ready for practice, he stayed plugged into things so he can hit the ground running – physically and mentally – next season.

“Honestly, just not being on the field I got better mentally, emotionally, being able to be there with the teammates every practice, every meeting,” he said. “I’m in every meeting. My coaches still give me the game test as if I’m playing. So, I know the plays. Everything mentally is pretty good, so that’s the way I got better.

“Even though I wasn’t able to go out there and play, I still made sure when people made plays, I thought what I could have done different or just try to put myself in each experience.”

The Packers signed Jacobs in free agency and drafted Lloyd in the third round in hopes of forming a thunder-and-lightning-style tandem. That, of course, didn’t happen.

While Jacobs was everything the Packers could have hoped for as he rushed for more than 1,300 yards during the regular season and ended his season on a streak of nine consecutive games with a rushing touchdown, Lloyd’s season consisted of six carries for 15 yards and one catch for 3 yards in Week 2 against the Colts.

During polar-opposite first seasons with the Packers, the wise veteran and the eager rookie formed a bond.

Lloyd drove Jacobs to practice every day, and Jacobs helped Lloyd stay positive through one setback after another.

“It’s good having Josh,” Lloyd said. “Josh, him going into the league, he didn’t have a person that he could look up to because he was ‘the guy’ coming. Me having a person like Josh, I took Josh to practice every day. We drove to practice every single day. He made sure I stayed in it. He always gave me pointers here and there.”

Lloyd is looking forward to doing his part to help take some of the load off Jacobs next year.

The Packers had high hopes when they drafted Lloyd. And they still do.

Lloyd’s goal, he said with a wide smile, is to surpass even the team’s expectations.

“Josh had a really good year, and I do think and I do know that I can help him a lot,” Lloyd said. “He had a lot of hits on his body. I’m there to help and he knows that. It’s going to be fun when I get out there on the field to play with him.”