The Los Angeles Rams are dealing with their fair share of injuries heading into their Week 7 matchup with the Atlanta Falcons.
The most notable absence on offense last week was undoubtedly that of running back Todd Gurley after he was sidelined with a thigh contusion. It s safe to say that his presence was heavily missed given the team’s inability to establish any semblance of a running game.
Unfortunately, it appears running back Malcolm Brown was not able to make it out of the loss versus the San Francisco 49ers unscathed. It seems the Rams are now hoping for the best when it comes to their availability for this week.
Head coach Sean McVay provided an encouraging update on Gurley while Brown’s status still leaves much to be desired, via ESPN’s Lindsey Thiry:
“Todd is making good progress. He participated in the walk through, he’s going to continue to do some stuff at practice and then with Malcolm, he’ll be day-to-day and we’ll just kind of keep our eye on that, but he won’t practice today.” When asked if Brown would play Sunday, McVay said: “It’s hard to say, he’s questionable for the game. I think you want to see some progress to be able to feel good about it.”
McVay’s comments indicate that while Gurley is making progress, Brown is still dealing with some wear and tear for last week. Either way, it appears the backfield could very well be shorthanded once again.
There had been plenty of speculation regarding Gurley’s health coming into the 2019 NFL season after McVay confirmed that he would be dialing back his workload. Unfortunately, the result has been a mediocre rushing attack that still left their All-Pro back in need of a break early on in the year.
Regardless, there is still plenty of time to get back to the basics with this offense and Gurley’s participation in practice is a positive sign that he will soon be back in the mix. Their other concern now is whether or not Brown will remain sidelined for the week with an ankle injury.
The backup was unable to take advantage of his first start of the season after mustering up just 40 yards and 11 carries. Rookie Darrell Henderson likely would have been a permanent replacement last week had he not committed a costly fumble.
Fortunately, Henderson may very well have an opportunity to redeem himself if Gurley or Brown are forced to miss some time.
