9/30 Practice Report: For Gurley, Back to Where it Began

Practice Report 9/30: For Gurley, Back to Where it Began

By Myles Simmons

[www.therams.com]

In Week 4 of the 2015 season, the Rams traveled to Arizona to take on the Cardinals. The club was coming off a tough loss to the Steelers, during which running back Todd Gurley took his first NFL carries — but they didn’t go for many yards.

At the time, head coach Jeff Fisher said the running back had been close to breaking off a few big runs, but they just did not work out against Pittsburgh.

All skepticism was put to rest in the following game, as Gurley rushed for 146 yards in the Rams’ 24-22 victory — 144 of which came in the second half.

“I had played the week before, got like six carries,” Gurley said after Friday’s practice. “I was just so anxious to get back on the field, because I went for like six carries for nine yards. So, I was just ready to play again, try to redeem myself.”

“It started off rough, as it always does against them in the run game,” head coach Jeff Fisher said. “Fortunately for us, we scored points, and we were able to stay with the run game in the second half. That’s when we broke out and [Gurley] made most of his plays, and then the four-minute run, which was extraordinary.”

Gurley had runs of 20, 23, 30, and 52 yards against the Cardinals in that Week 4 matchup, with three of those four runs coming in the fourth quarter. Aside from the 52 yarder, perhaps the most memorable was Gurley’s 30-yard sprint, as he slid down with just over a minute left in the game instead of continuing to the end zone.

“Gave up a touchdown,” Gurley said.

It was a savvy, veteran move for a 21-year-old rookie. The action sealed the Rams’ victory, as Arizona did not have any timeouts, leaving the offense free to take a knee to run out the clock.


“Going down on that [30-yard run], I could’ve got [a touchdown], but you know, just wanting to get out of there, and get in victory formation,” Gurley said. “But it’s definitely a good feeling, being in four minute – running the ball, able to get first downs at the end of the game. That’s what it’s all about.”

Cardinals head coach Bruce Arians said it wasn’t as if Gurley surprised his team in that matchup — after all, they did hold him to two yards rushing in the first half.

“Coming out of Georgia, we didn’t know how healthy he was when he played against us. But, he was obviously healthy,” Arians said this week. “Loved him coming out of Georgia, had a high, high grade on him. Nothing he’s done has surprised me, because I thought he was a top first-round pick.”

This week, the Rams are looking for a repeat performance as the club once again heads to the desert to take on the Cardinals in the fourth week of the season. Even the same broadcasters will commentate the game for FOX, Thom Brennaman and Charles Davis.

With the situational similarities, it’s hard not to reflect on what happened a year ago.

“A little bit, kind of when you’re going back and watching the film, things start showing up. And, obviously, you have the memory of it,” right tackle Rob Havenstein said. “But last year was last year. Different year, new team. Some different players, a lot of familiar faces. But it’s still a new year. So you kind of take it with a grain of salt, and it’s all about what you’ve done lately.”

Plus, Arizona had success going against Gurley in the second matchup between the two teams in December. In that game, the running back had only 41 yards on nine carries — in no small part because the rest of the offense could not get anything going.

“We came back again in [December], and we didn’t play well,” Fisher said. “We had some injuries, and they got that thing fixed.”

It’s all part of what makes Arizona tough to play, especially in their own building. The Cardinals have a lot of flexibility in what they can do defensively because of the physicality and athleticism of their players.

“They’re just physical,” Gurley said. “They have great linebackers, great defensive lineman, and their DBs can tackle — they want to tackle, and they have great ball skills. They’re just a great overall defense. They come with a lot of blitzes.”


And so L.A. will be challenged against a strong Arizona defense, striving to replicate past success. But if there’s one change the Rams would like to make from last year to this year, it’s being more productive in the run game in the first half.

“We need to get them going early and often,” Havenstein said of the Rams’ RBs. “We don’t want to have to wait until the third quarter or anything. So we want to get them at least a little crease early, because with those guys back there, they’re going to take a little crease and make it into a big crease.”

“They gave up some runs at Buffalo last weekend,” Fisher said. “They’re going to be determined not to give up any big plays, so we’re going to have to block better than we have.”

INJURY REPORT

The Rams have five players with an injury status heading into Sunday’s game.

Wide receiver Tavon Austin (shoulder), defensive tackle Dominique Easley (illness), defensive back Lamarcus Joyner (toe), and wide receiver Kenny Britt (thigh) are all listed as questionable. Britt made his first appearance on the injury report on Friday, listed as a limited participant. Austin, Easley, and Joyner were all full participants for Friday’s session.


Defensive end William Hayes (ankle) did not practice at all this week and is listed as doubtful.

“The only one that we didn’t have on the field this week was Will Hayes. He’ll be a game-time decision,” Fisher said. “Everybody else was good.”

Finally, wide receiver Pharoh Cooper (shoulder), cornerback E.J. Gaines (thigh), and wide receiver Nelson Spruce (knee) were all full participants in practice all week. As such, they are healthy to play on Sunday and no longer have an injury status.

DONALD DOES IT ALL

Defensive tackle Aaron Donald played 86 percent of the Rams’ 90 defensive snaps last week at Tampa Bay — a significant amount for any defensive lineman. And because Los Angeles got down two defensive ends — Hayes to injury and Eugene Sims to ejection — Donald ended up playing some significant snaps on the outside of the DL.

On Friday, defensive coordinator Gregg Williams noted it’s essentially as if Donald played seven different positions last week — every spot along the Rams’ four-man, and three-man defensive front.


“I’ve said this before — every single player on defense has to play a primary position and backup position, he played a backup in seven different positions, and that speaks volumes for him,” Williams said. “He didn’t even bat an eye, he got out there and played for us and played very strong in those areas.”

Donald said this week playing at defensive end wasn’t too different for him, since he’d done it before in college. And the defensive end downplayed any notions of how rare and unique a talent that is.

“I’m just doing my job. A lot of guys went down, I needed to step up and help. So I just did my part,” Donald said. “Like I said, I did it in college, so it wasn’t nothing new to me. And coach needed me to do it. So it wasn’t a problem for me.”

Williams however, spoke glowingly of the DTs performance.

“He is such a good football player, he can do so many things I can’t even coach,” Williams said. “He’s so intelligent. He gives us a lot of pitches to be able to throw out there and he helped us in some tough situations at the D — injury position and then we lost one on an ejection. It was pretty good that he did that.”