Fournette's trainer: Talk of RB being overweight 'blown out of proportion'

Leonard Fournette's trainer Jordan Bush says the running back has "worked his butt off" and talks of him being overweight are exaggerated, according to The Athletic's Greg Auman.

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers back's weight has been a discussion since the running back admitted to being above his optimal playing weight during June's mandatory minicamp. Fournette has since spent the last month working with Bush. The latter noted that Fournette arrived bigger than expected but was encouraged by his quick progress.

"Honestly, he did return to us a little bit bigger than we wanted," Bush said, per Auman. "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.

"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."

The 27-year-old back told reporters in June, including Auman, he weighed "240-something" but was confident it would come down.

Bush added that Fournette's "focus was where it needed to be" during their time together this offseason.

Fournette rushed for 812 yards on 180 carries in 2021. He signed a three-year, $21-million deal with the Bucs during the offseason.