At every turn since the end of Super Bowl LIII, one of the main questions surrounding the Rams has been what is the explanation for running back Todd Gurley's performance in Los Angeles' last two postseason games?
Head coach Sean McVay has been consistent in saying that Gurley's showings against the Saints and Patriots weren't indicative of some larger unhealed injury in Gurley's knee — mainly as evidenced by the running back's 16-carry, 115-yard showing against the Cowboys in the Divisional Round.
Check out the best photos of the Rams running backs from the 2018 season.
Los Angeles Rams running back Todd Gurley (30) celebrates a touchdown during an NFL Divisional playoff game against the Dallas Cowboys on January 12th, 2019at the Memorial Coliseum in Los Angeles, Calif. (Hiro Ueno/Rams)
Los Angeles Rams running back Malcolm Brown (34) runs the ball during an NFL football game against the Seattle Seahawks, Sunday, Nov. 11, 2018, in Los Angeles. (Hiro Ueno/Rams)
Running back (34) Malcolm Brown of the Los Angeles Rams scores a two point conversion against the Arizona Cardinals during the Rams 34-0 victory over the Cardinals in an NFL Week 2 football game, Sunday, September 16, 2018, in Los Angeles, CA. (Jeff Lewis/Rams)
Los Angeles Rams running back C.J. Anderson (35) runs the ball during the NFC Championship Game against the New Orleans Saints on January 20th, 2019 in New Orleans, Louisiana. (Hiro Ueno/Rams)
Running-back #34 Malcolm Brown of the Los Angeles Rams during the Rams 54-51 victory over the Kansas City Chiefs in an NFL season game eleven match , on November 19, 2018. (Photo By: Daniel Bowyer / Rams)
Running-back #42 John John Kelly of the Los Angeles Rams during the 48-32 victory over the San Francisco 49ers in an NFL season game sixteen match , on December 30, 2018. (Photo By: Daniel Bowyer / Rams)
Running back (30) Todd Gurley of the Los Angeles Rams holds the George Halas Trophy in the locker room with (35) CJ Anderson and (42) John Kelly after the Rams 26-23 victory over the Saints in the NFC Championship Game, Sunday, January 20, 2019, in New Orleans, LA. (Jeff Lewis/Rams)
Los Angeles Rams running back Malcolm Brown (34) rushes the ball against the San Francisco 49ers during an NFL football game in Santa Clara, Calif., Sunday, Oct. 21, 2018 (Hiro Ueno/Rams).
Running back (35) CJ Anderson of the Los Angeles Rams runs the ball against the New Orleans Saints during the Rams 26-23 victory over the Saints in the NFC Championship Game, Sunday, January 20, 2019, in New Orleans, LA. (Jeff Lewis/Rams)
Running back (34) Malcolm Brown of the Los Angeles Rams catches a pass and runs for a touchdown against the New Orleans Saints during the Rams 35-45 loss to the Saints in an NFL Week 9 regular season football game, Sunday, November 4, 2018, in New Orleans, LA. (Jeff Lewis/Rams)
Los Angeles Rams running back Justin Davis plays against the Minnesota Vikings during an NFL football game Thursday, Sept. 27, 2018, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
Quarterback (16) Jared Goff passes the ball to Running back (34) Malcolm Brown of the Los Angeles Rams faces off against the Kansas City Chiefs on a Monday Night Football matchup at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, the Rams win 54-51 in an NFL Week 11 game, Monday, November 19, 2018, Los Angeles, CA. (Will Navarro/Rams)
Los Angeles Rams running back Todd Gurley (30) celebrates a touchdown during an NFL Football game against the Green Bay Packers, Sunday, Oct. 28, 2018, in Los Angeles. (Hiro Ueno/Rams)
Running back (34) Malcolm Brown of the Los Angeles Rams catches a pass and runs for a touchdown and celebrates against the New Orleans Saints during the Rams 35-45 loss to the Saints in an NFL Week 9 regular season football game, Sunday, November 4, 2018, in New Orleans, LA. (Jeff Lewis/Rams)
Running back (33) Justin Davis of the Los Angeles Rams against the Seattle Seahawks during the Rams 33-31 victory over the Seahawks in an NFL Week 5 football game at CenturyLink Field, Sunday, October 7, 2018, in Seattle, WA. (Jeff Lewis/Rams)
Los Angeles Rams running back Todd Gurley (30) runs the ball in for a touchdown during an NFL game against the Philadelphia Eagles on Sunday December 16th, 2018 at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum in Los Angeles, Calif. (Hiro Ueno/NFL)
Los Angeles Rams running back Todd Gurley (30) celebrates a touchdown against the San Francisco 49ers during an NFL football game in Santa Clara, Calif., Sunday, Oct. 21, 2018 (Hiro Ueno/Rams).
Running back Todd Gurley of the Los Angeles Rams catches a pass and runs for a touchdown against the Green Bay Packers during the Rams 29-27 victory over the Packers in an NFL Week 8 regular season football game, Sunday, October 28, 2018, in Los Angeles, CA. (Jeff Lewis/Rams)
Running back (30) Todd Gurley of the Los Angeles Rams runs the ball and scores a touchdown against the Denver Broncos during the Rams 23-20 victory over the Broncos in an NFL Week 6 football game, Sunday, October 14, 2018, in Denver, CO. (Jeff Lewis/Rams)
Running back #30 Todd Gurley of The Los Angeles Rams celebrates after a touchdown during the 33-31 victory over the Seattle Seahawks in an NFL season game five match, at CenturyLink field, on October 7, 2018, in Seattle Washington. (Daniel Bowyer/Rams)
Running back #30 Todd Gurley of The Los Angeles Rams celebrates after a touchdown during the 33-31 victory over the Seattle Seahawks in an NFL season game five match, at CenturyLink field, on October 7, 2018, in Seattle Washington. (Daniel Bowyer/Rams)
Running-back #42 John John Kelly of the Los Angeles Rams during the 48-32 victory over the San Francisco 49ers in an NFL season game sixteen match , on December 30, 2018. (Photo By: Daniel Bowyer / Rams)
Los Angeles Rams running back Todd Gurley (30) celebrates a touchdown catch with fans during an NFL Week 4 Football game against the Minnesota Vikings. The Thursday Night Football game was simulcast on NFL Network, FOX, and Amazon Prime Video at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum in Los Angeles, Calif. on September 27th, 2018 (Hiro Ueno/Rams).
Running back (30) Todd Gurley of the Los Angeles Rams runs the ball for a touchdown and celebrates against the Seattle Seahawks during the Rams 33-31 victory over the Seahawks in an NFL Week 5 football game at CenturyLink Field, Sunday, October 7, 2018, in Seattle, WA. (Jeff Lewis/Rams)
Los Angeles Rams head coach Sean McVay and running back C.J. Anderson (35) celebrate a touchdown during an NFL Divisional playoff game against the Dallas Cowboys on January 12th, 2019at the Memorial Coliseum in Los Angeles, Calif. (Hiro Ueno/Rams)
Los Angeles Rams running back C.J. Anderson (35) celebrates with running back Todd Gurley (30) during an NFL divisional football playoff game against the Dallas Cowboys Saturday, Jan. 12, 2019, in Los Angeles (Jacob Gonzalez via AP)
Los Angeles Rams running back John Kelly (42), running back Todd Gurley (30), running back Malcolm Brown (34), and running back Justin Davis (33) make their way through the tunnel prior to an NFL football game against the Seattle Seahawks, Sunday, Nov. 11, 2018, in Los Angeles. (Hiro Ueno/Rams)
Los Angeles Rams quarterback Jared Goff (16), wide receiver Brandin Cooks (12) and running back C.J. Anderson (35) celebrate a touchdown during an NFL Divisional playoff game against the Dallas Cowboys on January 12th, 2019at the Memorial Coliseum in Los Angeles, Calif. (Hiro Ueno/Rams)
Los Angeles Rams running back Malcolm Brown (34), running back Todd Gurley (30), and running back John Kelly (42) prior to an NFL football game against the Los Angeles Chargers on 9/23/18 at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum in Los Angeles, Calif. (Rams/Hiro Ueno)
Running back (30) Todd Gurley and Running back (35) C.J. Anderson of the Los Angeles Rams takes a moment to enjoy their victory against the San Francisco 49ers at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, the Rams win 48-32 in an NFL Week 17 game, Sunday, December 30, 2018, Los Angeles, CA. (Will Navarro/Rams)
Running back (30) Todd Gurley of the Los Angeles Rams arrives at the stadium in the locker room with (42) John Kelly and (33) Justin Davis before the Rams 26-23 victory over the New Orleans Saints in the NFC Championship Game, Sunday, January 20, 2019, in New Orleans, LA. (Jeff Lewis/Rams)
Running back (35) CJ Anderson of the Los Angeles Rams runs the ball for a touchdown and celebrates against the San Francisco 49ers during the Rams 48-32 victory over the 49ers in an NFL Week 17 regular season football game, Sunday, December 30, 2018, in Los Angeles, CA. (Jeff Lewis/Rams)
Los Angeles Rams wide receiver Robert Woods (17), running back C.J. Anderson (35), and wide receiver Josh Reynolds (83) celebrate a touchdown during an NFL Divisional playoff game against the Dallas Cowboys on January 12th, 2019at the Memorial Coliseum in Los Angeles, Calif. (Hiro Ueno/Rams)
While there was a report during the NFL Combine that Gurley has arthritis in his left knee — the same one surgically repaired after he tore his ACL during his junior year at Georgia — neither general manager Les Snead nor McVay would directly confirm that report on Tuesday. But McVay did address the question, and his answer is worth noting in full.
"Do you know what arthritis is? I don't really either except from like a general understanding that there is a wear and tear on something. When I start to get into the specifics, I don't know exactly medically when you categorize what arthritis is, but I've never seen a guy on the medical report, on the injury report with that," McVay said. "I think if you said is there a wear and tear, was there a pounding that that knee took, absolutely. He missed a couple games because of the accumulation where it wasn't one specific thing, but it had swelled up, it was bothering him. I think if you look at the amount of work that he got, there was something there. I'm not sure where the arthritis term came in or who mentioned that, but I do know that just from the amount of work that he's had, there's been a wear and tear on that knee, the accumulation of activity that he had ended up leading to him working through that Philly game and then missing those last two games — I thought he did a nice job coming back."
"He's really the only one that can talk specifically about how his body feels, you see he's fully capable of playing at a high level referenced by the Dallas game, but where do you categorize those types of things? That's hard for me to say because I'm not an expert in that area," McVay continued. "I just know that he was able to play and able to play at a high level, referenced by some things that he did. Really in all three games there was examples of 'this looks like a guy that is healthy enough to play at the level that we've seen him accustomed to playing at consistently."
McVay went on to say that how Gurley's knee was feeling did not negatively influence his number of touches in the NFC Championship Game or the Super Bowl — just as he's intimated since early February. And McVay added that Gurley's knee did not appear to affect the way he was able to run or cut during the postseason.
"I would say the Chicago game is a good example, where production was pretty similar offensively — he didn't miss any games before that, so we weren't talking about that," McVay said, referring to something being potentially wrong injury-wise with Gurley. "[T]here weren't any limitations that he communicated to us, or that you could see as far as just watching him."
So, again, the Rams have consistently stated that Gurley was healthy for the postseason — so there doesn't appear to be any kind of conspiracy theory there.
However, going forward, both Snead and McVay have said that they would like to better manage Gurley's workload to keep him at his best for any potential postseason run.
"I think what we said is he's had a lot of carries over the last few years and so anything you hear us say, any plan is basically — and I'd probably say this probably not just with Todd Gurley, it might be with our wide receivers because they've played a lot of snaps over the last few years — what can we do to help those guys be as fresh as possible at the end of the season," Snead said. "I don't think we are all of a sudden doing something that no other team is doing. It's a hard game, hard to play, I'm sure marathon runners go through it, I'm sure skiers go through it, but you want to be fresh when it counts and that's our goal."
"[W]hether it be this coming year, eventually, I think you always want to be mindful of elongating a player's career," McVay said. "But to sit here and say that we are going to use him less or not, that wouldn't be fair at all. I think a lot of it is predicated on — you guys hear us talk about the contingency plans — if that's something that we feel like is best for our team and best for Todd, then we certainly have the ability to maybe do that. But to say that he's not going to be a guy that can carry the workload and play at a high level, I absolutely would not say that yet."
Still, the Rams will likely have a suitable backup for Gurley in camp — whether that's Malcolm Brown, a free agent like C.J. Anderson, someone already on the roster like Justin Davis and John Kelly, or an incoming rookie from the draft.
And at this point, it seems like there's at least a decent chance that could be Brown. A restricted free agent, the Rams placed an original-round tender on Brown this week — which means Los Angeles gets the right of first refusal to any offer sheet the running back may sign on the open market. It's worth noting that Brown averaged 4.9 yards per carry through the first 12 games of Los Angeles' season in 2018, before he was lost for the year with his clavicle injury in December.
"Going to C.J., he did prove that when Todd was out that, wait a minute, he can keep the offense in rhythm — maybe not as explosive as Todd in the long gains — but we also felt like Malcolm Brown could potentially have done the same thing that C.J. did, it's just he went out with the week before with an unfortunate injury and we never got to see that," Snead said.
So as the Rams advance into the new league year, the Rams' running back situation is worth monitoring. But given that we're six months from Week 1, at this point, it doesn't seem like there's much concern about Gurley and the rest of the position group.
"I think for us, it's knowing that you have to constantly evaluate these things and that ongoing communication," McVay said of Gurley, "but our plan is that he's our starting running back."
