At a press conference on Tuesday, the Los Angeles Rams formally introduced all-pro safety Eric Weddle as a new member of the franchise. However, it did not take long for questions to begin to veer towards Todd Gurley’s health.
Both head coach Sean McVay and general manager Les Snead commented on the recent report that Gurley has arthritis in the same knee he tore during his junior season at Georgia.
Snead did not give much regarding the diagnosis, but added he thinks “that with all NFL football players, that when it comes to trying to be fresh at the end of the year, there is an element, probably, of shades of gray of how fresh you are and what that reason is,” he said.
When asked if Gurley was dealing with arthritis or another degenerative condition, McVay did not provide a definitive answer.
“I don’t know exactly, medically, when you categorize what arthritis is, but I’ve never seen a guy on the medical report or on the injury report with that,” McVay said. “And I think If you just said, ‘Is there a wear and tear? Was there a pounding that that knee took?’ Absolutely. … He’s the only one that can really talk specifically about how his body feels.”
If it were arthritis, “all you got to do is take Aleve,” Snead joked.
When asked if there was any concern that Gurley, the NFL’s best running back, would not be able to return to his superstar form, McVay refrained from giving much of an answer.
“You got to let it play itself out. … Like anything else, it’s an ongoing evaluation,” said the head coach.
