Running routes and learning piano
Packers’ WR Lazard on mission to self-improve
Allen Lazard chuckled a little bit. He knows he’s not in a bad situation – after all, it is sunny and warm in Phoenix. It could be worse. But he was only supposed to be there training for a little while before returning to Green Bay for the start of voluntary workouts when the country shut down.
Instead he ended up having to extend his month-long lease, jump in the pool for cardio, buy a stationary bicycle – and a piano – to pass the time before he’s allowed to get back to Lambeau Field.
“I think that’s what people are realizing as a world and as a country right now, we’re all in this together,” the Packers’ third-year wide receiver said. “It doesn’t matter where you are, no one is exempt from this quarantine thing. It’s everybody.”
Initially Lazard’s offseason conditioning plan was to go to the Fischer Institute – but he spent just two days there before it closed due to the coronavirus pandemic. So that program was winnowed down to the basics at his apartment with using his body weight and bands with a lot of repetitions as he tried to piecemeal a workout together.
“The biggest thing I’m trying to focus on right now is just mobility,” he said. “I’m doing a lot of iso-leg stuff to build up my single legs and as well as a bunch of core and back to work on those areas. I feel like this is probably the best time where I can sit down and focus on individual parts of my body, where I have some weaknesses and I can focus on that and get them stronger and in better shape.”
But, he had one distinct advantage over many receivers not only on his own team, but around the league: He had been living with Manny Wilkins.
Even Davante Adams admitted the lack of route-running was an issue as he settled into a new home-based workout routine, so Lazard knows having a quarterback versed in the Packers offense and route concepts was going to keep him up to speed on the technical parts of his game and the offense.
Packers wide receiver Allen Lazard reacts after scoring a touchdown against the New York Giants last December.
“That’s something I’m very fortunate (for),” Lazard said. “Not even just to have a quarterback – obviously that’s huge – but to even have someone else that plays football and I’m able to work out with and somewhat compete with at least.”
And, perhaps more importantly, having a roommate has helped keep Lazard a bit more even-keeled mentally since he hasn’t had to go through the pandemic alone. Wilkins makes his own music, and that influence has creeped into Lazard’s consciousness as well – but it also challenged him.
So, he set his sights high and bought a piano.
“I have never been really artistic at all, in any sort,” he said. “I want to be able to leave this quarantine with another craft, another talent or another skill that I can potentially use later in life.”
The pair have been roommates since the start of last season and the quarterback said watching Lazard work behind the scenes and off the field has been inspiring as the wideout rose to prominence on the field.
“An opportunity is presented and he rose up to that occasion and will forever…that moment will forever live in me because I watched that happen from the beginning of getting to camp all the way ‘til that moment happened and then everything that took place after that,” said Wilkins, who was released by the Packers on April 27. “And made himself a name that is; you need to scout that guy when you go play against him. It’s good to have that around you because it makes you work harder because you’re seeing other people work hard.”
Which is what Lazard has been trying to do as best he can to be ready for whatever comes in 2020 – even if it’s not quite the same hurdle as moving from one team to another like he did in 2018 or being cut and working his way to a starting role as he did in 2019.
“Every single year so far I’ve been in the league it’s been a drastic change,” he said. “So I feel like that’s what the league is – you’re constantly adjusting, you’re adapting to new ways and I think that’s what makes the best teams be able to play in January and February.”