The Los Angeles Rams 2019 season ended on a high note, earning a win over the Arizona Cardinals in the team’s final game at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.
Despite that and their 9-7 record, it was not enough to get them into the playoffs. While 9-7 may seem like a fine record, it certainly is disappointing after making it to the Super Bowl a year ago.
For star running back Todd Gurley, there were a lot of ups and downs in the 2019 season, and he reflected on those after the Week 17 victory, via Gary Klein of the L.A. Times:
“You can look at it both ways,” running back Todd Gurley said of finishing with a winning record. “You know, be disappointed or just be grateful. … Got nine wins — maybe one or two more to be a playoff team, but we didn’t.”
Most players on the Rams are looking at this season as something to improve on. The last two years the Rams were NFC West Leaders and fell well short in 2019.
In those past two years, Gurley was a much more heavily used piece in the offense. This year he took a significant step backward in usage after dealing with arthritis in his left knee, although both he and the Rams have been keen on dismissing this as a problem.
Gurley continued to dismiss problems with the knee, stating that every player in the league is dealing with some sort of injury at this point in the season:
“It’s Week 17, man, and it feels like Week 17,” he said. “Everybody’s sore. If it’s not one injury, it’s another, so it’s always something during the season — but that’s every player in the league.”
There is no denying that everyone certainly is tired after an entire season of football, but Gurley’s knee continue to be a concern moving forward. After missing the end of last season and not returning to form in the postseason, there is no telling how Gurley will be able to handle an every-down workload as his career progresses.
Ideally, next year would see a fully healthy Gurley and the Rams record improve. With an extended offseason for the first time in a few years, Gurley should be able to take advantage and rehab as he sees fit. Last offseason he missed out on many Rams practices as he was following a personalized practice regime, it will be interesting to see if that is the case again in 2020.
