Per NFL Network’s Steve Wyche:
I was told by the [Los Angeles] Rams that after the season, after the Super Bowl, they came up with an offseason plan [for Rams RB Todd Gurley] that’s basically, “We’re going to do everything we’ve done in previous years except you are not going to be doing football work on the field during OTAs.”
Now I was told by the Rams and Travelle Gaines who trains a lot of NFL players including [New York Giants] running back Saquon Barkley and [Jacksonville Jaguars RB] Leonard Fournette that Gurley is in the Rams facility as [Rams Head Coach Sean] McVay said doing some strength and conditioning work, and then he works with Gaines several days a week doing strength and conditioning and agility work. The one thing that they are not doing is pounding-type drills such as running hills or doing work in the sand dunes of Southern California. Gaines, who has trained Gurley since his second season, said otherwise they’re not doing anything different.
The one change that Todd Gurley is going to make, and this is according to Travelle Gaines in conjunction with the Rams (there’s communication between both), is Todd Gurley’s goal is to play closer to 218 lbs. this season whereas last year he played closer to 224, 225.
They just said by lightening the load a little bit, they’re going to make him a little more agile, maybe make him even a little more dangerous in the passing game.
Gaines also said, “Is there any lingering effect from the ACL injury had when he was at the University of Georgia? Yes. That is common with all athletes, but it is not an every day thing. Now is there anything medical that the Rams or anyone is worrying about that’s going to diminish Todd Gurley? Absolutely not.”
This is simply a maintenance program. Something to take the load off so Todd Gurley can be better later in the season as opposed to maybe not having as much left.
Remember, last year was the most games Todd Gurley ever had to play, or the Rams had to play in Gurley’s tenure.
Bear in mind it was Wyche who, back in February, passed along the Rams’ assessment of Gurley’s knee after the season that he had been dealing with a “wear and tear” issue.
While the Rams’ public statements and some media members’ muddling made things difficult to parse, I’ve contended since then that there’s no reason Gurley can’t be as physically ready for Week 1 in 2019 as he was for Week 1 of 2018. That being the case, there’s nothing really groundbreaking from Wyche’s reporting.
The real key, as many have noted several times, is that we won’t get any real clarity on Gurley’s availability or usage until we get to Week 1. Nothing from the offseason program or training camp or the preseason is going to give us any sincere lead on Gurley’s future.
If nothing else, at least we can rule out any medical emergency for JTG. Whether or not we can expect to see the same amount of Todd Gurley will have to wait until September.