THOUSAND OAKS, CA – JUNE 11: Todd Gurley #30 of the Los Angeles Rams talks to the media following minicamp at the team’s practice facility at California Lutheran University on June 11, 2019 in Thousand Oaks, California. (Photo by Jayne Kamin-Oncea/Getty Images)
Todd Gurley may think his knee injury isn’t a big deal, but it’s clear the Rams are quite concerned about their star running back.
If you listen to Todd Gurley talk you might be inclined to think his knee injury is nothing for the Rams to worry about. If you look at how the team has acted recently, it’s clear that Sean McVay and company are more than a little concerned.
The former Georgia star believes the torn ACL he suffered in college was a much bigger issue than whatever’s currently going on with his knee. He referred to the injury as “small” when talking with local reporters on Tuesday.
The Rams didn’t choose to trade up in the third round of April’s draft to grab Memphis running back Darrell Henderson just to add depth at the position. Henderson was added to the roster to make sure the offense can still function at a high level even without Gurley on the field. It’s smart for any NFL team to make sure they have multiple running backs who can make their offense go, but the Rams are spending more resources on the position than the competition.
In fairness to Gurley, it’s unreasonable to expect him to express anything other than confidence about his ability to be productive in 2019. Even if he is privately concerned about the status of his knee, it doesn’t do him any good to feed into the media firestorm surrounding the issue. Gurley would like the questions about his knee to go away, but of course that won’t happen unless he shoulders a heavy workload once the regular season begins.
It’s also safe to assume that a lot of eyes will be on Gurley when the Rams’ training camp begins. McVay and the coaching staff are open with their belief that the franchise running back will be on the field with his teammates, but it’s unclear exactly how much work he’ll do. The level of his involvement in preseason will do a lot to establish expectations for Gurley heading into the regular season.
Ultimately, Gurley’s words about his knee don’t hold a lot of weight. The proof will be in his performance when the team starts to ramp up their preseason work. The Rams certainly hope Gurley is right about the insignificance of his injury, but they’re actively preparing for the worst case scenario.