Can Packers Running Back Marshawn Lloyd Finally ‘Prove It’?

BusinessSportsMoneyCan Packers Running Back Marshawn Lloyd Finally ‘Prove It’?ByRob Reischel,Contributor.Forbes contributors publish independent expert analyses and insights. Rob Reischel is a Wisconsin-based reporter who covers the NFL.Follow AuthorJun 02, 2026, 06:33pm EDT--:-- / --:--This voice experience is generated by AI. Learn more.This voice experience is generated by AI. Learn more.Green Bay Packers running back Marshawn Lloyd (32) has missed 33 of 34 NFL games due to a bevy of injuries.Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.Prove it.That’s been Green Bay Packers head coach Matt LaFleur’s message to third year running back Marshawn Lloyd this offseason.To date, the oft-injured Lloyd has proven nothing. He hopes things finally begin to change in 2026.“I can’t do anything until I make it happen,” said Lloyd, the Packers third round draft pick in 2024. “Coach LaFleur says, prove it. If I want to change that narrative, prove it.”In two NFL seasons, Lloyd’s stat line reads like this: one game, six carries, 15 yards.Lloyd has missed a remarkable 33 of 34 games with hamstring, ankle, groin and calf injuries, as well as an emergency appendectomy. In the one game Lloyd played — against Indianapolis in Week 2 of 2024 — he logged just 10 snaps.With Josh Jacobs facing potential legal issues and the running room devoid of a proven No. 2 back, the Packers would love to count on Lloyd in 2026. But that’s risky business the way his first two seasons have gone.“I think the proof will be in the pudding,” LaFleur said of Lloyd. “He’s got to show that consistently over the course of all of OTAs, into training camp, into the preseason, and then we’ll see where we go from there.”MORE FOR YOULloyd, who stands just 5-foot-8 ½ and weighs 215, was the fourth running back taken in the 2024 draft behind Jonathon Brooks of Texas (pick No. 46 to Carolina), Florida State’s Trey Benson (No. 66, Arizona) and Michigan’s Blake Corum (No. 83, Los Angeles Rams). On draft week...