Jermichael Finley thinks being smaller will lead to bigger things.
The Green Bay Packers’ fourth-year tight end is down to 240 pounds, about seven to 10 pounds less than his regular playing weight. Looking noticeably thinner but no less muscularly defined, Finley said he became leaner from the treadmill work he did this offseason while rehabilitating his injured knee.
He insisted he’s still a tight end even though he admitted he’d prefer to play more in a two-point stance like a receiver than in a three-point stance like a tight end.
“In a perfect world, I would,” Finley said before Saturday’s first training camp practice.
Though Finley said he hasn’t heard any negative feedback from the coaching staff about his weight, he said coach Mike McCarthy asked him: “What, you don’t want to block anymore?”
When asked whether there’s any danger in being too light, he said: “No, not at all because I’m not going to let nobody toss me around.”
Heading into the final year of his original rookie contract, Finley is desperate to play a full, 16-game season after missing all but five games last year because of a knee injury. He was on the verge of becoming dominant, with two 100-plus-yard receiving games in the first four weeks of the season, when his season ended on the second play of the Oct. 10 game at Washington.
“I’m just like every fan out there, I’m pissed off that I can’t get a 16-game season in,” he said. “I guarantee you if I do, I’m going to change the tight end position. Guarantee it.”
To that end, the Packers aren’t going to rush Finley back. McCarthy said Finley wouldn’t be full go at the start of camp. It’s unknown when he will be cleared to fully participate.
“There’s no hurry,” Finley said. “As long as I’m out there Sept. 8 (for the opener against New Orleans), I’ll be the happiest guy in the world. There’s no reason for me to go right now, no reason at all.”
http://www.greenbaypressgazette.com/article/20110730/PKR01/110730049/1058/Finley-lighter-seeks-big-role