Rams running back Todd Gurley’s knee has become enough of a problem to knock him out of the final two regular-season games. Coach Sean McVay doesn’t believe the absences will go any farther than that.
“Based on just the information that I’m getting and just talking to Todd, I wouldn’t say that I’m concerned,” McVay told reporters on Friday. “I think we want to be really smart about that. The thing that’s great about Todd is he’s very decisive and he’s a great communicator with regards to how he’s feeling. I think he understands his body better than anybody else. I don’t get the sense that he’s concerned, but we want to be smart about this. If it’s feeling like something where he’s not going to be able to be the Todd Gurley that we’re accustomed to seeing, just based on the way that that thing is feeling, the smart thing for him -- number one -- and for our football team is to be able to rest him and get him back as quickly as possible whenever that is that our next game after the Niners will be.”
If the Rams lose to the 49ers, the next game could be as soon as six days away. Beat the 49ers, and the Rams will secure a bye. Though the extra rest surely won’t hurt, McVay believes Gurley will be good to go whenever they play again.
“I would think so,” McVay said about Gurley’s availability for the first playoff game, before turning pragmatic. “If you said a couple weeks ago that we would have to hold him out for the last two weeks, I probably would’ve been surprised about that. But based on the information that we’re getting, there isn’t any reason for us to press the panic button or think that he won’t be available. But it is important for us to get him back to full speed and to the health that he feels like he can go compete at and we’re not doing anything to put him at risk and he’s not doing anything for the longevity of his career.”
It’s definitely a concern that Gurley’s surgically-repaired knee (he tore an ACL in 2014 at Georgia) would become inflamed without any specific trauma or injury. And it will be a concern throughout his career, with that knee constantly having the potential to swell again.
