Paul Bretl | 6/16/2025
GREEN BAY, Wis. — From a football sense, if it could have gone wrong for Packers’ running back MarShawn Lloyd during his rookie season, it probably did.
Injuries and setbacks were an unfortunate part of Lloyd’s first NFL season, who was limited to one regular-season appearance in Week 2 and just 10 total snaps.
“Last year was a learning experience,” said Lloyd following a minicamp practice. “Just learn from my mistakes and just getting better each and every day. I wouldn’t say it was a bad thing. I believe everything happens for a reason. So it definitely grew me up in a way.”
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Lloyd’s start to training camp was delayed due to a hip injury. A hamstring in the Packers’ preseason opener would keep him sidelined until Week 2 of the regular season, at which point he suffered a foot injury against Indianapolis.
That would land him on injured reserve. Then, as Lloyd was working his way back, he was hit by appendicitis. In his recovery from that, Lloyd would tweak his hamstring, which ended his season.
“When I got the appendicitis, it’s just like, what’s next?” said Lloyd. “What’s next mentality, and you gotta have that. Something bad happens, just gotta have the what’s next mentality, what you can do to get better.
“Yeah, I was hurt, but what can you do to get better mentally and do better with my plays. So I used that time to really get deep into the plays where they know my playbook, so when it’s my time, it’s my time.”
To help avoid the soft tissue injuries that Lloyd experienced during his rookie year, like Christian Watson did last offseason, Lloyd spent some time at UW-Madison late last season, and he has another “post-test” visit upcoming.
During Lloyd’s original visit, it was a full five hours doing a variety of exercises to find any“deficiencies,” or areas that need to be strengthened.
“The visit, it taught me to know what was going on because we found what was going on,” said Lloyd. “We attacked it in different ways because it was trying to figure out exactly what was going on and going there actually helped a lot.”
Lloyd then continued: “I’m built a little different. I gotta know what exercises to do. Everyone’s different. Some people strong on one side, stronger the other side. You gotta do whatever you gotta do to get everything pretty even.”
Helping Lloyd navigate the ups and downs that came in his first NFL season was Josh Jacobs. The two would drive over from Lambeau Field to the Don Hutson Center each day for practice, with Jacobs making sure that Lloyd “stayed in it,” as he described it, by providing pointers along the way and taking the rookie under his wing.
But Lloyd also had some perspective as well. Despite all the setbacks he faced in 2024, none of them compared to having rehab from an ACL injury during his freshman year of college. He also used this as an opportunity to familiarize himself with the playbook and the other aspects of his game that he was able to.
Due to the time that Lloyd missed, the Packers were ramping him up during the early portion of OTAs, but he has been at 100% “for some time now.” As practices progressed, Lloyd was working on the side of the field with the first team offense, along with Emanuel Wilson and Chris Brooks behind Josh Jacobs.
“Really just go have fun, go out there and just don’t worry about what no one else says,” Lloyd said of his mindset. “Just be who you are. I know what I’m capable of. I’m just excited to see what turns out.”
The Packers selected Lloyd in the third round of the 2024 NFL draft, and he brings something “different,” as GM Brian Gutekunst put it, than the other running backs on the roster. Lloyd measures in at 5-9 – 220 pounds and has terrific burst–running in the 4.4s–and change of direction ability that is easily spotted on the practice field when the ball is in his hands.
Matt LaFleur views Lloyd as a back who can bring a change of pace to the running back position with his speed and also be someone who can impact the passing game as well, giving the Packers a “matchup nightmare,” as LaFleur called him during the offseason, out of the backfield.
There are a variety of ways that Lloyd could potentially impact a game, but step No. 1 is proving that he can.
“He’s different in a lot of ways from some of the other guys,” Matt LaFleur said of Lloyd during minicamp. “He definitely has some great explosiveness and could be a really valuable weapon out of the backfield, I think. We saw that when he was healthy.
“He’s a guy that’s got to prove it. He’s got to be able to go out there, and it’s certainly not for a lack of effort. This guy, he spent the majority of his offseason here, and he’s been at a much better place, I would say right now. I’m excited for him, but ultimately he’s got to prove it.”