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Practice Report 9/15: Gurley Takes Reps with Offense
By Myles Simmons
View: http://www.stlouisrams.com/news-and-events/article-practicereport/Practice-Report-915-Gurley-Takes-Reps-with-Offense/bafa878c-34bb-43b2-8358-9866e7f9364f
Running back Todd Gurley took another step in his progression back from his knee injury when he took practice reps with the first-team offense on Tuesday afternoon.
It serves as one more item off the check list in the No. 10 overall pick’s recovery from tearing his ACL last year at Georgia.
“I feel good,” Gurley said Tuesday. “Just getting back used to things and getting in the flow of things.”
What’s more is that head coach Jeff Fisher said there is a possibility the running back could be playing on Sunday.
“I ruled him out in the preseason and ruled him out last week. I’m not ruling him out right now,” Fisher said. “We’ll see how he does, but this is a medical decision -- a trainer’s decision, a collective decision. But we’ll see how he does this week.”
For his part, Gurley said he’s not going to try to lobby the staff too much in order to play. Throughout the process, Gurley has maintained his willingness to be patient to get back on the field.
“It’s only Tuesday now, so we’ll have a great padded practice tomorrow,” Gurley said. “We’ll see how things go from tomorrow to Sunday.”
If the running back is called upon, Fisher is confident Gurley will do well when he’s out there.
“I’m not concerned about him knowing what to do, whatsoever,” Fisher said. “He knows what to do.”
“I feel very comfortable,” Gurley said. “Obviously I’m a rookie -- I still have a lot to learn. That just comes with time and getting those reps. But I definitely feel comfortable with the offense for sure.”
Because he hasn’t played in a game for about 10 months, Gurley said making sure he’s in as best game shape as possible is still part of his process.
“The game and practice are a lot different,” Gurley said. “Of course, I expect myself to push through it. But sometimes it’s going to be tiring. That just comes with just getting a feel for things and just getting those reps.”
Still, rehabbing the knee with set benchmarks and progressions has been helpful for the running back.
“That was the goal once I got drafted by the Rams,” Gurley said. “We sat down, had a conversation. They just told me what the goal was -- I was going to start camp off just doing individual and steadily working my way up.
“It’s almost that time,” Gurley continued. “It’s getting closer, so I’m excited about that.”
CHANGING THE SCHEDULE
As mentioned in yesterday’s Monday Wrap-Up, the Rams have adjusted their practice schedule to emphasize better recovery throughout the week. After Tuesday’s lighter session, the Rams will be in pads on Wednesday. Thursday will be the players’ day off, Friday will be a normal practice, and Saturday will feature a little heavier walk-through.
“I don’t ask them to get to full speed two days after, unless you have a Thursday game,” Fisher said. “We kind of recharged today and we installed. So tomorrow will be a normal Wednesday for us then Thursday’s a complete rest day for them.”
While it’s a shift for the whole team, Fisher said the players have been good with it so far.
“They loved the schedule last week,” Fisher said. “They felt fresh going into the game. Had a lot of energy at the end, so we hope it carries over.”
“Having a Thursday off, a couple days closer to the game, it allows you to ramp up twice during the week,” linebacker James Laurinaitis said. “It’s different, but that Thursday day off -- I’m sure a lot of us will get in here and watch tape together and really find out more and more and more about Washington.”
Laurinaitis added one other consequence of the change is it forces players to quickly move on from one game to the next.
“We only had to get a lift yesterday, but everybody was in the building watching tape for next week already,” Laurinaitis said. “Guys weren’t enjoying [the win], taking two days off from watching film, relaxing and waiting until Wednesday to find out about the next team because they were celebrating. Guys were really honed in, they were watching tape, and trying to figure out more about the Redskins and really put the game to rest.”
Though Fisher has decades of coaching experience in the NFL, he said that fact doesn’t prevent him from implementing beneficial changes.
“We’re always trying to do things differently,” Fisher said. “I considered it last year and it just didn’t really fit with the staff. So I gave them the heads up during the offseason -- this is probably the direction we’re going to go.”
“We’ve adjusted and everybody’s fine,” Fisher added. “You get to get caught up on Thursday. You do some things early in the week that you ordinarily would do late in the week, but you still repeatedly cover them on Saturday. So, we’re just kind of moving things around a little bit.”
By Myles Simmons
View: http://www.stlouisrams.com/news-and-events/article-practicereport/Practice-Report-915-Gurley-Takes-Reps-with-Offense/bafa878c-34bb-43b2-8358-9866e7f9364f
Running back Todd Gurley took another step in his progression back from his knee injury when he took practice reps with the first-team offense on Tuesday afternoon.
It serves as one more item off the check list in the No. 10 overall pick’s recovery from tearing his ACL last year at Georgia.
“I feel good,” Gurley said Tuesday. “Just getting back used to things and getting in the flow of things.”
What’s more is that head coach Jeff Fisher said there is a possibility the running back could be playing on Sunday.
“I ruled him out in the preseason and ruled him out last week. I’m not ruling him out right now,” Fisher said. “We’ll see how he does, but this is a medical decision -- a trainer’s decision, a collective decision. But we’ll see how he does this week.”
For his part, Gurley said he’s not going to try to lobby the staff too much in order to play. Throughout the process, Gurley has maintained his willingness to be patient to get back on the field.
“It’s only Tuesday now, so we’ll have a great padded practice tomorrow,” Gurley said. “We’ll see how things go from tomorrow to Sunday.”
If the running back is called upon, Fisher is confident Gurley will do well when he’s out there.
“I’m not concerned about him knowing what to do, whatsoever,” Fisher said. “He knows what to do.”
“I feel very comfortable,” Gurley said. “Obviously I’m a rookie -- I still have a lot to learn. That just comes with time and getting those reps. But I definitely feel comfortable with the offense for sure.”
Because he hasn’t played in a game for about 10 months, Gurley said making sure he’s in as best game shape as possible is still part of his process.
“The game and practice are a lot different,” Gurley said. “Of course, I expect myself to push through it. But sometimes it’s going to be tiring. That just comes with just getting a feel for things and just getting those reps.”
Still, rehabbing the knee with set benchmarks and progressions has been helpful for the running back.
“That was the goal once I got drafted by the Rams,” Gurley said. “We sat down, had a conversation. They just told me what the goal was -- I was going to start camp off just doing individual and steadily working my way up.
“It’s almost that time,” Gurley continued. “It’s getting closer, so I’m excited about that.”
CHANGING THE SCHEDULE
As mentioned in yesterday’s Monday Wrap-Up, the Rams have adjusted their practice schedule to emphasize better recovery throughout the week. After Tuesday’s lighter session, the Rams will be in pads on Wednesday. Thursday will be the players’ day off, Friday will be a normal practice, and Saturday will feature a little heavier walk-through.
“I don’t ask them to get to full speed two days after, unless you have a Thursday game,” Fisher said. “We kind of recharged today and we installed. So tomorrow will be a normal Wednesday for us then Thursday’s a complete rest day for them.”
While it’s a shift for the whole team, Fisher said the players have been good with it so far.
“They loved the schedule last week,” Fisher said. “They felt fresh going into the game. Had a lot of energy at the end, so we hope it carries over.”
“Having a Thursday off, a couple days closer to the game, it allows you to ramp up twice during the week,” linebacker James Laurinaitis said. “It’s different, but that Thursday day off -- I’m sure a lot of us will get in here and watch tape together and really find out more and more and more about Washington.”
Laurinaitis added one other consequence of the change is it forces players to quickly move on from one game to the next.
“We only had to get a lift yesterday, but everybody was in the building watching tape for next week already,” Laurinaitis said. “Guys weren’t enjoying [the win], taking two days off from watching film, relaxing and waiting until Wednesday to find out about the next team because they were celebrating. Guys were really honed in, they were watching tape, and trying to figure out more about the Redskins and really put the game to rest.”
Though Fisher has decades of coaching experience in the NFL, he said that fact doesn’t prevent him from implementing beneficial changes.
“We’re always trying to do things differently,” Fisher said. “I considered it last year and it just didn’t really fit with the staff. So I gave them the heads up during the offseason -- this is probably the direction we’re going to go.”
“We’ve adjusted and everybody’s fine,” Fisher added. “You get to get caught up on Thursday. You do some things early in the week that you ordinarily would do late in the week, but you still repeatedly cover them on Saturday. So, we’re just kind of moving things around a little bit.”
