Packers' Mike McCarthy discusses Eddie Lacy's weight, James Starks' injury

When Green Bay Packers head coach Mike McCarthy took to the podium on Wednesday before practice to talk to the media, much of the focus of his press conference revolved around his running backs. It should come as little surprise - starter Eddie Lacy has been running an a hobbled ankle, while backup James Starks sat out during the open part of Monday's padded practice with an unspecified injury.

Before dealing with either injury, however, McCarthy was first asked about Lacy's weight, which according to some NFL scouts' estimates is currently around 260 pounds (mentioned around the 21-minute mark of this podcast), despite being listed at 240. McCarthy opened his remarks by saying that he would not discuss a player's weight, but then turned around and said that Lacy is "bigger than he was as a rookie." McCarthy is not concerned about the extra weight affecting Lacy, however, saying "he looks good" after watching him in individual drills on Monday.

As for the ankle injury, it seems that the bye week has come at a good time for Lacy - McCarthy said it's behind him, and that "I don't think the injury's affecting him any more."

Of course, Starks played extremely well two weeks ago against the Chargers in place of an ineffective Lacy, but in missing at least a portion of Monday's practice, his status is in question somewhat for Sunday's game at Denver. McCarthy refused to give any details on what Starks' injury is, however, only saying that "it's an injury from the game" against the Chargers and that Starks is "hoping to do more today than he did on Monday."

Stay tuned for the injury report this afternoon to find out more about what's going on with Starks.

Finally, regarding the run game, McCarthy does not appear to believe that there is an issue with the number of run plays called versus pass plays; rather, his issue is that the Packers aren't getting enough snaps on offense in general: "Number one, we're not running enough plays ... we need more attempts at the plate. 60 plays a game, that's not what we're looking for."

That certainly was the case against the Chargers - the Packers ran just 53 offensive plays to the Chargers' 92, and they trailed in time of possession by a 38:00-22:00 margin. Of course, an effective and consistent run game would be one way to help swing those numbers back in the Packers' favor.

UPDATE: According to the Packers' Wednesday injury report, Starks did not practice today, and his injury is reported to be to his hip.