GREEN BAY — Ben Sirmans has coached college and pro football for three decades. He’s been in the NFL for 14 years, and he’s entering his 10th year as the Green Bay Packers running backs coach.

So, Sirmans has seen some stuff.

But he has never — ever — seen a player start his career with worse injury luck than Packers second-year halfback MarShawn Lloyd, who is hurt … again.

“To be honest, I have not,” Sirmans said Sunday, one day after Lloyd suffered a hamstring injury during the team’s 23-19 preseason victory over the Indianapolis Colts. “And I don’t think any of us have.

“You’re very supportive of him and that’s why you just talk to him about, ‘You’ve just got to keep pressing ahead.’ Because it’s one of those unfortunate occurrences. But at some point, just the way the guy works, you’ve just got to believe he will get past all this and be fine.”

At this point, it’s reasonable to wonder if the star-crossed 2024 third-round pick ever will get past it.

Packers head coach Matt LaFleur confirmed Sunday that Lloyd injured his hamstring during his 33-yard downfield catch on a wheel route from Malik Willis on Saturday, only the third pro game Lloyd had ever appeared in because his rookie season was so beset with injuries.

Lloyd started the game with No. 1 running back Josh Jacobs getting the day off and played 11 snaps — and was involved in virtually every play, carrying six times for 15 yards and being targeted four times in the passing game, although his lone catch was the 33-yarder that ended his afternoon.

LaFleur wouldn’t say how long Lloyd would be sidelined, saying only that Lloyd “is going to miss some time.”

Asked if he thought Lloyd would miss the start of the season, which kicks off Sept. 7 against the Detroit Lions, LaFleur replied, “I can’t tell you that, that far ahead.”

Lloyd was making his preseason debut against the Colts because he had missed extended time with a groin injury sustained on July 28, in the first in-pads practice of camp. Now, it’s a hamstring injury.

It makes for the second straight summer of injury issues for Lloyd, who started training camp last year on the non-football injury list with an offseason hip injury.

He saw his first game action in the second preseason game at Denver and promptly suffered a hamstring injury in that game. He missed the season opener against the Philadelphia Eagles in Brazil because of it, then made his NFL regular-season debut in Week 2 against the Colts at Lambeau Field — only to play just 10 snaps and carry six times for 15 yards before an ankle injury ended his day. The Packers put him on injured reserve two days later.

And then, on the verge of being activated from IR for the Nov. 17 game at Chicago, Lloyd felt a sharp pain in his side, which turned out to be appendicitis, leading to an emergency surgery. The Packers subsequently put him on the non-football injury list again, and his season was over.

Asked Sunday if there’s anything Lloyd could be doing to prevent his injuries, LaFleur shook his head.

“I mean, those are my questions to our medical staff all the time. ‘Is there anything else that we could be doing or he should be doing?’” LaFleur replied. “He’s in great shape. It’s just, I think you’ve got to chalk it up to some bad luck.”

The most exasperating part is that Lloyd has flashed his explosiveness and playmaking ability during the rare times when he’s been healthy. Quarterback Jordan Love called the 5-foot-9, 220-pound Lloyd “a little rocket” in the backfield last year.

“[He showed] everything that we knew about him, which is that he’s explosive player,” said Sirmans, adding that he didn’t know if Lloyd hurt his hamstring when he caught Willis’ pass or when he absorbed a hard hit at the end of the play. “He’s a guy that you like to get in the open space and sometimes he can create his own space.”

Sirmans was referring to one run against the Colts where Lloyd deked unblocked linebacker Cameron McGrone, who had him dead to rights in the hole, to turn what should have been a 3-yard loss into a 4-yard gain.

“Those are the biggest things that you know that he can do, [which] is why you just stay with him and got to realize he’s still a young guy,” Sirmans said.

“We know he’s always out there, he’s trying hard, he trains the right way. We always have some optimism [and] he has optimism when he comes back. It’s just, for whatever reason, just unfortunate occurrences for him.”

The Packers even sent Lloyd to Badger Athletic Performance at UW-Madison — just as they had with cornerback Eric Stokes and wide receiver Christian Watson during the 2024 offseason — in January in hopes of resolving his hamstring issues.

After a battery of treadmill tests on a one-day trip to Madison, Lloyd and the Packers coaching, strength and conditioning and athletic training staffs went into training camp feeling like they had a better handle on how to move forward with him — especially since Watson and Stokes got through the 2024 season without any hamstring issues after their visits to UW.

“Hopefully he can rebound from this and we can get him back at some point in time,” LaFleur said. “Because he certainly should has shown a skill set and playmaking ability.

“I mean, that was a heck of a play. It was great throw, a really nice catch. But it’s … it’s just unfortunate.”

​COPYRIGHT 2025 BY CHANNEL 3000. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. THIS MATERIAL MAY NOT BE PUBLISHED, BROADCAST, REWRITTEN OR REDISTRIBUTED.