Todd Gurley and the Rams have been reluctant to put a number on how the running back’s knee is feeling, whether it’s 80 percent or 100. We may never know exactly where he stands as far as the health of his knee, but one statistic might help give some indication.
Sean McVay told Peter King of NBC Sports in a recent interview that Gurley is making good progress and running as fast as he ever has in practice.
The data comes from GPS sensors players wear on the field, giving trainers and coaches some insight into how players are performing.
“When you look at the way that we monitor these guys with the GPS and the tracking system, he’s hitting speeds that are as high as he’s ever hit before. So you can see the guy’s strong,” McVay said. “He hit 21 miles an hour running yesterday at practice and I think he’s feeling good.”
Gurley’s top speed in 2017 was 21.23 mph. He hit at least 21 mph a few times in games that season, showing great explosiveness. Last season, he was hitting speeds in around 20 mph, though he didn’t touch 21 mph, according to Next Gen Stats. Surprisingly, he was the fastest ball carrier in Super Bowl LIII (19.78 mph).
He seems to be healthy based on what the Rams are saying, but we won’t know how exactly he’s feeling until the real games begin – something even McVay admits.
“Todd’s the only one to be able to really say exactly how he’s feeling, and until we get out into a game, you never know exactly how it’s going to respond, but you feel great about where he’s at,” McVay said. “I think he’s done an outstanding job, and until I’m told otherwise, the plan is, hey, this is Todd Gurley, we’re going to hand him the ball and he’s going to be a featured guy for us and we’re looking forward to seeing it and it’s going to be Carolina when you get a chance to first see him do his thing.”
