There’s plenty of uncertainty surrounding Todd Gurley’s knee with the latest report suggesting he has arthritis in his surgically repaired knee. Needless to say, that would be terrible news if true, because of the inability to “cure” the condition.
Arthritis is common in knees with previously torn ACLs, which is what Gurley had while at Georgia. Aside from the first few games of his career and the last two games of 2018, Gurley has never missed a game due to injury in the NFL. He’s one of the most durable running backs around, touching the ball more than anyone in the league since 2015.
Yet, that could very well change moving forward if he has arthritis. Vincent Bonsignore of The Athletic spoke to Dr. Jesse Morse, who works at Florida Orthopedic Specialists. Morse hasn’t looked at Gurley’s knee and isn’t a team doctor, but he’s someone who specializes in “musculoskeletal injuries, arthritis, fractures, concussions, musculoskeletal-ultrasound and injections.”
He believes Gurley’s best years are behind him.
“Without personally examining him, my answers will obviously be very generalized, but unfortunately I believe Gurley has peaked and will not be able to repeat his record-breaking effectiveness,” Dr. Morse said. “He could possibly have one to two more years of elite top-five running back talent, but he will likely lose a step.”
Gurley is in a better situation than the average person with arthritis, having access to some of the best treatment options out there. Morse says that definitely helps the situation and could help “prevent a rapid decline for a Gurley-type talent, especially with as much money as they have invested in him.”
Morse adds that he doesn’t think the Rams will be able to keep up his current workload, likely needing to reduce it in order to prolong his career and effectiveness. After signing Gurley to a $57.5 million contract last offseason, limiting his touches is the last thing the Rams want to do.
Gurley is signed through 2023 and while he can still be effective in the NFL, there’s no telling whether he’ll continue to be someone who can carry an offense the way he has.
“Can he reverse his arthritis? No,” Dr. Morse said. “Can he use different treatment modalities to prevent the progression of osteoarthritis? Yes. Such things as glucosamine/chondroitin, physical therapy, appropriate weight loss and PRP/stem cell injections have all been proven to be effective in this nature.”
The Rams have yet to confirm or comment on whether Gurley does have arthritis in his knee, but Les Snead and Sean McVay both said at the combine last week that he has dealt with wear and tear due to a huge number of touches the last two years.
