Injured late in the regular season, the Rams continue to insist that running back Todd Gurley isn’t injured now. Which means, if true, that he simply had a bad game on Sunday against the Saints.
So how will Gurley, the NFL’s 2017 offensive player of the year, bounce back?
“He’s a great teammate and a great guy,” quarterback Jared Goff told reporters on Thursday, “a guy that doesn’t let that type of stuff affect him. He’s going to come into work and be the same guy he always is and work hard.
“I expect him to have a big game. He’s going to go out there and do everything he normally does. For whatever -- last week wasn’t his and it happens. It’s not the end of the world. I think he knows that and approaches it like a pro.”
Gurley had only four carries for 10 yards (including a touchdown) against the Saints. Coach Sean McVay, who had said in the days preceding the game that “feel” would dictate the division of the rushing attempts between Gurley and C.J. Anderson, has since said that more opportunities should have gone to Gurley.
Regardless, Anderson had the much better game. If Gurley wasn’t injured, was Gurley simply pressing too hard given the emergence of Anderson as a viable 1B to Gurley’s 1A? Although Gurley has said all the right things, can the rise of Anderson be ruled out as a reason for Gurley’s decline against the Saints?
If Gurley really was and is healthy, there has to be a reason for Gurley to have a career low in yards from scrimmage (13) in the biggest game of his career. And the only thing that has changed in recent weeks is the presence of a season veteran and Super Bowl champion who has gone from unemployment to unexpected stardom in L.A., at the direct expense of Gurley.