Todd Gurley has been dealing with knee injuries since last season and it looked like it played a huge role in CJ Anderson carrying most of the workload in the Super Bowl. According to his trainer, Travelle Gaines, he said to CBS Sports that Gurley is expected to play in 2019 despite dealing with some arthritis.
At the same time, Gurley is dealing with an “arthritic component to his knee.” Right now, it’s all about less physical contact on Gurley in the offseason, working on his strength, speed, and weight.
“Everybody knew when Todd came out of Georgia that there would be some kind of arthritic component to his knee, which is part of every surgery whether it’s a shoulder, a knee, an ankle,” Gaines said. “He’s now at the year-five mark, all we’re doing is managing that. If we can pound him less in the offseason while keeping his weight down, working on his strength, working on his agility in short areas, that’s going to give him a better chance to be healthy Weeks 14 through 17 when they really count.”
Gaines added that he was never told about any plans of Gurley’s workload when the season starts. He’s confident that backup rookie RB Darrell Henderson can provide extra help.
“It’s never been told to me that there’s a plan to decrease his workload come Week 1,” Gaines said. “At the end of the day, you need solid running backs, and they grabbed a home-run running back in the third round. … If you watched the games last year, Todd typically sat out two to three series last year. I don’t see anything changing with that, so you need a back who can catch, and I believe Darrell averaged around 9.0 yards per carry, a home-run type guy.”
It’s was rumored for a while now that Gurley has been dealing with arthritis but Head Coach Sean McVay never confirmed it. Injuries have been a history for Gurley as he also tore his ACL while at UGA. Despite the injuries, he’s still proven to be one of the most dominant RBs in the NFL.
Flip the page for more info on Gurley saying his knee has been feeling good this offseason.
