Limiting Todd Gurley became a problem in Week 4 for Rams, and fans deserve answers
By Dan Parzych
Todd Gurley only received five carries for the Los Angeles Rams during Sunday’s 55-40 loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Back in the offseason, the Los Angeles Rams made it clear early on there would be a different approach to Todd Gurley at running back to make sure the two-time Pro Bowler wasn’t overworked too much in the backfield.
After struggling the way he did during the NFC Championship and Super Bowl last winter, it was pretty clear that something was going on with Gurley, whether the Rams wanted to admit it or not.
Eventually, it was discovered that arthritis was in fact the issue surrounding Gurley, although the team still seemed to dodge just about every question thrown in their direction during the offseason about it.
Still, just because Los Angeles felt confident in their new approach for Gurley in 2019 didn’t necessarily mean that it would be successful, and while the Rams were able to get by for the first three games keeping him limited, it finally caught up to them on Sunday.
Through the first three games, no one was making that big of a deal over Gurley receiving a combined 44 carries, mainly because the Rams were 3-0, and this is what mattered the most.
But after watching Los Angeles get embarrassed by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers 55-40 in Week 4 during a game in which Gurley only saw five carries for 16 yards, fans deserve answers from the organization.
For starters, as great as it was to see Gurley find the end zone twice on those five carries, and make up for it in the passing department by catching seven passes, this is still unacceptable for a running back with his skill set.
Over the years, Gurley has proven to be one of the most dangerous running backs in the NFL when healthy, and the fact that he only has 49 carries in four games makes it pretty obvious that something is up.
No running back with Gurley’s skill set should be limited to just five carries during a game in which Los Angeles finished on the losing end, especially when seeing that Jared Goff was forced to throw the football 68 times.
As previously mentioned, most Rams fans were giving the team the benefit of the doubt for Gurley’s limited action through the first three games since they were winning, but what took place in Week 4 crossed a new line.
More than ever, Rams fans deserve answers from the organization over what is really going on with Gurley, because Sunday made it clear that something is clearly up, and a reason for concern over the beloved running back.