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It's been two weeks since the Super Bowl and the mystery surrounding the strange absence of Todd Gurley have not been cleared yet.
All along, the Rams maintained that Gurley was healthy during the playoffs and attributed his lack of playing time to football reasons – with Gurley saying he was simply overtaken by C.J. Anderson in the NFC championship game and Sean McVay said that he had not done well enough to get his star running. No surprise, none of these answers was considered a satisfactory answer to the biggest mystery of the playoffs.
On Tuesday, Anderson added support to the theory that Gurley would be knee injured in the playoffs, hence a reduced workload. During an appearance on "Undisputed" of FS1, Anderson revealed that when he arrived in Los Angeles, Gurley was more injured than we thought, including Rams and Gurley.
"He was hurt more than we thought," Anderson said. "The injury was a little more than everyone in the building thought, including himself."
So what was the injury? Anderson described this as a knee sprain, but he could not call it that for sure.
"It would never have really said it was difficult, I would say a sprained knee," Anderson said. "Obviously, it's the same knee injury that he's suffered before in his career." Of course, I've had a meniscus surgery and once you have a knee, you still have a knee injury. Knee, so that makes it worse.It had a lot of contacts earlier in the year – obviously, it's one of the best half-attackers that probably has been. "
Gurley had knee injuries at the beginning and end. the end of the regular season, which led the Rams to play his last two games of the season and to hire Anderson to replace him. Anderson played well in Gurley's relief in weeks 16 and 17, collecting 299 yards and two touchdowns in the first round. goodbye in the playoffs.
At the start of their playoff series against the Cowboys in the divisional round, Anderson and Gurley shared some touches, and both thrived. Gurley had 115 yards and one touchdown over 16 runs while Anderson had 123 yards and two touchdowns on 23 carries.
Gurley certainly looked healthy.
But Gurley was almost totally absent from the NFC title game, scoring four carries for 10 yards and a few early assists as Anderson carried the ball 16 times for 44 yards.
"When we arrived, we knew we would both be used," Anderson said of the NFC championship game. "Now, I do not think it was a tricky business, because it was rather like it was on the front. I was receptive to say, & ### If Todd wants to leave, he wants to go. "And it did not bother me." Clearly, he has managed 21 touchdowns this year, what he has done in the league since his arrival has been great It was more like: CJ, we will play you, but if our guy wants the ball and if he wants to go and he wants to do it, then we will roll with 30 & # 39; and it was good for me. "
After the victory over the Saints, McVay said he would try to get Gurley to participate more in the Super Bowl, while Gurley seemed grateful that he would have another chance to contribute after a defeat against the Saints. Gurley took most of the Super Bowl touch, but once again his involvement was lacking. Against the Patriots, Gurley only carried the ball 10 times for 35 yards.
His lack of involvement can be attributed at least in part to the fact that the Patriots 'defense thwarted the Rams' attack and limited them to one goal and 4.3 yards per game, but he is always worrying that the half signed a monster extension less than a year ago Raised 10 times in the Super Bowl after being one of Rams' most important players in the past two seasons.
On the one hand, all of this could be easily explained by his knee problems. On the other hand, maybe the Rams simply had the impression that Anderson was playing better than Gurley and giving them the best chance of winning. Both would be a cause for concern, that Gurley is struggling with a knee injury that would hinder him in the years to come (as Anderson said, "once you have a knee, you always have a knee") or Well Gurley managed to get played by a half-half who joined the Rams in mid-December.
Gurley will almost certainly be back next season to prove that the strange end of his season was nothing more than an aberration, but it's unclear whether the Rams will bring Anderson back. If the Rams sign him again, Anderson will understand that he will not replace Gurley, despite what happened in the playoffs.
"It's Todd's team," Anderson said. "It's still Todd's team, no matter what happens, even if I come back."
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