An earlier report made by Rick Stroud of the Tampa Bay Times speculated that the Buccaneers’ coaching staff were not too thrilled with the shape that running back Leonard Fournette showed up in when mandatory minicamp kicked off.
“Coaches were not happy, and that’s an understatement, when he didn’t participate in the OTAs, but then he shows up at the mandatory minicamp weighing damn near 260,” Stroud said via his podcast Sports Day Tampa Bay. “And that’s not a good sign for a guy that you just spent a three-year contract on.”
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Fournette has bet on himself the past two seasons with the Bucs after many were writing him off after his first contract with the Jacksonville Jaguars. It is obvious that Lenny has put in the work to earn the 3-yr./$21 million contract this past off-season. Now that he has it, will he be able to maintain that level of competitive want-to heading into 2023?
We should just ask Fournette himself, as he has since taken to his Twitter account to express his thoughts on the reports.
First, it started with a since-deleted tweet, that was captured by TMZ, where Lenny tweeted “No I weighed 245 y’all say anything”.
Shortly following the deletion of the aforementioned tweet, Fournette retweeted a video of himself doing a final set of 325 on power cleans from early July. The video shows him putting in a lot of work and he appears to have cut a bit more weight since showing up at mandatory minicamp in July.
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READ MORE: Tampa Bay’s coaching staff not pleased with Leonard Fournette’s weight issues this offseason
In his most recent post, Lenny took a shot at the media and speculation ever so slightly while also noting the Bucs’ opening day matchup in Dallas against the Cowboys.
Lenny has never shied away from criticism, so don’t expect that to start now. He has always done what he needed to do to maintain a level of play that is above par.
Fournette is once again expected to play a large role in a Buccaneers’ offense that features numerous weapons. In his Bucs’ career, he has played 27 games over two seasons and carried 277 times for 1,179 yards (4.3 average) and 14 touchdowns. The biggest impact Lenny had was during the Super Bowl run in which he burst onto the scene making him the clear-cut option heading into the 2021 season.
With younger running backs chomping at the bits to earn some touches, I am sure Fournette is not taking things lightly in getting himself back into starter shape.
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