Todd Gurley looked good at Rams training camp, but what does it mean?

Todd Gurley looked good at Rams training camp, but what does it mean?

By Vincent Bonsignore

https://theathletic.com/1101260/2019/07/28/todd-gurley-looked-good-at-rams-training-camp-but-what-does-it-mean/

IRVINE, Calif. — When the Rams finally set Todd Gurley free from the bubble wrap he’s been shielded in the last six months, he took a handoff from Jared Goff, planted a determined foot as he sped to the line of scrimmage and then decisively cut right and upfield, splitting a pair of defenders on the way to daylight.

Welcome back, Todd Gurley.

It meant everything and nothing all at the same time.

Word to the wise: You might as well get used to that yin and yang for the next few months or so.

Yes, Gurley looked fit, chiseled and completely healthy on the first day of Rams training camp on Saturday at UC Irvine. He was active and decisive as a runner out of the backfield and as a receiver lined up wide. He had burst and energy as he flew through a complete workout — his first foray on a practice field in more than five months.

And if there was even a hint of discomfort in his incredibly analyzed and exhaustingly discussed left knee, he wasn’t letting on.

On Day 1 of training camp, it was vintage Todd Gurley.

It meant everything.

It means nothing.

More Todd Gurley #Rams pic.twitter.com/Rtuq9W7uw5

— Vincent Bonsignore (@VinnyBonsignore) July 27, 2019

When it comes to the aforementioned left knee, the one that mysteriously sabotaged the last month of Gurley’s 2018 regular season and largely left him a shadow of himself in the postseason, it’s not about the first day of camp. Or the second or third or fourth. It’s not even about Week 1 of the regular season. Or Week 2 or Week 3 or Week 4, for that matter. At least when it comes to the positive developments.

This is all about the long haul of a 16-game schedule and beyond. It’s about where Gurley will be, physically, when the leaves start falling, the winds begin gusting and the temperatures drop and when the football turns more nasty and meaningful and bodies start to feel the full effect of a grueling season.

Gurley’s left knee underwent reconstructive surgery five years ago and might be buckling a bit after the tremendous use it’s been put through across four NFL seasons. So, no matter how good he looked on Saturday — and Gurley looked really, really, good — there’s a reason why he and the Rams have a plan in place to monitor and manage his practice time and game-usage load.

It’s a program that the soon-to-be 25-year-old described as a “great plan.” And it’s one to help ensure that the Todd Gurley who blazed across the field on Saturday is the Todd Gurley the Rams can lean on late in the season and into the playoffs. Not the version that wasn’t available to them last December, January and February, most notably against the New Orleans Saints in the NFC Championship Game and in Super Bowl LIII against the New England Patriots.

Problem is, there is no way to arrive at that point without getting to that point. And that requires time. Which is why there is no way to determine the significance of Saturday or put into context what it truly represents, other than to look back at it down the road.

So buckle up. The Todd Gurley experience is going to last awhile.

That isn’t to say Saturday means nothing at all, especially considering all those dire reports that periodically surfaced throughout the offseason proclaiming Gurley’s left knee as severely damaged goods and painting his future as terribly bleak. Most of which, I was cautioned to digest with major discretion. And, as Gurley pointed out, sometimes you have to consider the source.

“It’s the internet,” he said. “Like, how serious can you take the internet?”

Nevertheless, while the severity of Gurley’s situation may have been exaggerated or overplayed, we also can’t dismiss what happened late last season. Because something absolutely did happen.

For 14 games, Gurley was on track to challenge for another NFL Offensive Player of the Year award. And then, out of the blue, his knee started hurting so much he was forced to the bench the last two games of the regular season.

And aside from the one-game burst he had against the Dallas Cowboys in the opening round of the playoffs — after a full month of rest — he essentially went missing in the NFC title game and Super Bowl.

To disregard what unfolded late last season as meaningless or insignificant flies in the face of reason given how the Rams have sprung into action to draw up a plan that avoids a similar occurrence. They will manage Gurley’s knee in a way that gets him through the regular season and leaves him optimally positioned to be effective in the postseason.

The Rams aren’t doing this proactively. It’s in response to something that happened last year, and we may never know what that was exactly. But clearly, the Rams understand they have to change their approach with their star running back.

Which means periodic days off during training camp and the regular-season practice schedule. “Veteran plan” is how a smiling Gurley described it.

“It’s why I love (Sean McVay) It’s why I love (Rams trainer Reggie Scott) and the whole strength staff. And it’s why I love the Rams,” Gurley said. “It’s going to be a good camp. And obviously, when it’s time to work, it’s time to work. But when it’s time to sit back and relax, I need to do my part as well making sure I’m ready to get mentally prepared and just being focused, helping other guys out.”

And it will probably mean tweaking how many touches and plays Gurley gets during games, especially the first half of the season.

“It’ll be a good plan,” Gurley repeated, without getting specific.

That is the hope, of course. Whether it works or not, only time will tell. Which made Saturday almost as meaningless as it was significant.

It’s frustrating.

But it’s also reality