While the Los Angeles Rams have opened up the 2019 NFL season 3-0, there are still a couple of issues the team needs to work out if it hopes to be the juggernaut they were last year.
The biggest storyline heading into the year was the health of Todd Gurley as he spent most of the offseason rehabbing his knee. Gurley initially injured that knee early on in the 2018 NFL season and later aggravated it in a game against the Philadelphia Eagles, forcing him to miss the last two games of the regular season.
After the Super Bowl loss where Gurley was minimally involved, the team decided that it would make it a priority to preserve the running back during the new year. While Gurley has shown he is healthy, his workload has been scaled back by quite a bit and he has struggled to really get into any rhythm whenever he takes the field.
According to Lindsey Thiry of ESPN, it seems that Rams head coach Sean McVay is going to attempt to get him more involved moving forward:
When asked if he could see a game where Todd Gurley would have 25 touches, like he often did last season, Sean McVay said: “That’s the hope.”
— Lindsey Thiry (@LindseyThiry) September 25, 2019
McVay added that he believes the best way to get Gurley more opportunities to make plays would be to ensure Los Angeles keeps its offense on the field for longer periods, which they have struggled with so far:
What can Sean McVay do to get Todd Gurley going?
McVay: "I think we’ve got to have more plays. Being efficient on those early downs and being able to sustain drives. The more plays we get, the better it is for everybody."
The Rams rank 9th in snap count at 197.
— Lindsey Thiry (@LindseyThiry) September 25, 2019
The Rams have yet to resemble the high-powered scoring machine the league became accustomed to seeing since McVay took over the team in 2017. While some of that can be attributed to Los Angeles working in two new starters in Joseph Noteboom and Brian Allen along the offensive line, the fact of the matter is that Gurley’s lack of involvement has forced most of the offensive burden onto quarterback Jared Goff.
It is a tricky line that the team is toeing as the Georgia product’s long-term health is the priority, but it is forcing McVay to figure out other ways to get the offense into a rhythm. Luckily, the team’s defense has more than compensated for the other side’s struggles as they have managed to come up with stops when they matter the most.
As the season progresses, there should be more concerted efforts to get Gurley the ball more because he is one of the most dynamic threats out of the backfield in the league. In the meantime, however, the Rams will just need to lean on McVay, Goff, and the defense until Gurley proves he is ready to handle a three-down back’s workload.
