Leonard Fournette's Trainer Says RB Is Working Hard, Weight 'Blown Out of Proportion'

The trainer for Tampa Bay Buccaneers running back Leonard Fournette, Jordan Bush, said the reports of Fournette's weight being around 260 pounds during June's mandatory minicamp weren't a major concern.

Bush told Greg Auman of The Athletic:

"[Fournette] said, 'When camp comes around and I report, I’ll be ready to go.' He's going to pass his conditioning test. He's going to pass his physical. He's checking all those boxes. I think it was definitely blown out of proportion. I told him, 'It's part of the business. You're a professional athlete. People expect you to be a certain weight and look a certain way.' I get it."

Bush added that Fournette has spent the last month working out with him in Austin and that "the guy worked his butt off, every single day."

"Honestly, he did return to us a little bit bigger than we wanted," he continued. "He was also in the sauna every day, getting extra cardio every single day. We called it 'fat camp,' just to mess around with him, but he was doing that type of stuff every single day. We could see the weight coming off."

Last week, Rick Stroud of the Tampa Bay Times reported on his Sports Day Tampa Bay podcast that the veteran running back showed up to minicamp "about a donut shy of 260" pounds (h/t Jason Owens of Yahoo Sports).

Stroud added: "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. And that's not a good sign for a guy that you've just spent a three-year contract on."

Fournette acknowledged in June's camp that he was above his playing weight, telling reporters he was at "240-something" and that "230, 228 is definitely my range."

But he also didn't appear to appreciate how big of a news story his weight became after Stroud's report:

The 27-year-old was solid for the Bucs last season, rushing for 812 yards and eight touchdowns while adding 69 catches for 454 yards and two scores. He was rewarded with a three-year, $21 million deal in the offseason and looks to be the undisputed feature back after Ronald Jones II signed with the Kansas City Chiefs.

The main concern for the Bucs will be whether Fournette is around his target weight and in shape come training camp.