Sean McVay on Todd Gurley's increased role: 'Me not being an idiot'

[theramswire.usatoday.com]

Cameron DaSilva

To begin the 2019 season, Todd Gurley went eight straight games with fewer than 20 touches. In two of the last three weeks, he’s gotten at least 20 touches – the lone exception being the Rams’ 45-6 blowout loss to Baltimore.

The Rams have won both games in which Gurley has gotten at least 20 touches, as his involvement has provided a spark in recent weeks.

So, what’s the reason for his increased role? Sean McVay explained it in very simple terms on Wednesday.

“Me not being an idiot,” he said. “I think he’s felt good and really he’s done a nice job with that. You look at the Chicago game and just going from there, you don’t want to make some of the same mistakes that you ended up making earlier on in the season and I think he’s done a nice job handling a bigger workload. But then you also have confidence in those other guys if they need to give him a spell.”

There were a lot of unhappy fans after the Rams’ Week 10 loss to the Steelers, and not just because Los Angeles didn’t win. It stemmed from Gurley not getting a single touch in the fourth quarter and being replaced by Malcolm Brown on the first two drives of that quarter.

McVay recognized that was a mistake and didn’t want to do anything like that again.

“I think there’s some instances where you look back and it’s always hindsight in terms of what can you do. I think the Steelers game stands out in terms of where we were running the football well and didn’t really give him a chance to get back going based on how that thing played out,” he said. “So you always try to learn from your previous experiences.

“I think we’ve been able to, in the games that he’s gotten more touches, be efficient when we’ve been able to give him the ball. That’s a reflection of him, but also the guys blocking.”

Gurley’s numbers are unimpressive this season, especially for the league’s second-highest paid running back. He has just 642 yards and eight touchdowns, averaging 4.2 yards per carry compared to 4.9 in 2018.

Some of that is attributed to his reduced role, but he hasn’t been nearly as explosive or involved in the passing game. That’s changed a bit in recent weeks, but it remains to be seen if the Rams will continue with that approach.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/05/2019 09:59AM by Rams43.