IRVINE, Calif. -- It took four minutes for Todd Gurley to match his preseason workload from last season.
Gurley received four carries -- and gained 2 yards -- on the Los Angeles Rams' first possession on Saturday, which was extended by the Dallas Cowboys' muffed punt. He didn't play in the first preseason game last year. Or the third. Or the fourth. He began the 2016 regular season with only four preseason carries, then proceeded to be one of the NFL's least-productive running backs.
First-year Rams coach Sean McVay wants to change that. He's mindful of keeping Gurley healthy and fresh for the regular-season opener, but "being in a new system, and just for the overall continuity of our offense, I think it's important for him to be out there," McVay said.
McVay said all of his starters will get "progressive work" through the third preseason game, and that includes Gurley, who was treated with kid gloves while coming off being named Offensive Rookie of the Year in 2015. Gurley's yards per carry dropped from 4.8 in 2015 to 3.2 in 2016. He often lacked room to run, but he also missed holes. And as the season wore on, miscommunication between Gurley and his offensive linemen continued to be a problem.
Former coach Jeff Fisher prioritized keeping Gurley fresh for the increased workload that he would take on as a second-year player.
McVay believes "it's important to be able to get those game reps," though to a certain extent.
"I think Todd, going into his third year, he's a great competitor that he's always going to want to play if you allow him to," McVay said. "It's not like he's ever saying, 'Hey, don't let me play this preseason.' He wants to compete. You watch the way that he works day in and day out at practice, he's one of those guys that you have to be mindful of protecting himself from himself because he works so hard. That's a good problem to have with one of your key players, and I think he'd be the first to tell you he wants to be out there with his teammates to compete. That's something that we anticipate doing these next couple weeks.”
Gurley averaged 1.59 rushing yards before first contact last season, the second-worst rate among running backs with enough carries to qualify. It was an indication of how often the Rams' offensive line allowed penetration.
The small sample size of a preseason opener didn't provide much encouragement.
On Gurley's first carry, Lewis Neal blew past right guard Jamon Brown, leading to a 3-yard loss. Gurley caught a 10-yard pass on third-and-long, then received three more carries after Dallas' ensuing turnover. Taco Charlton separated from right tackle Rob Havenstein to hold Gurley to a 1-yard gain. Gurley then found the middle clogged up, tried to bounce it outside and was taken down at the line of scrimmage. His best run came immediately thereafter, when he got around the edge -- thanks to a block by Robert Woods and Tyler Higbee -- and gained all of 4 yards.
McVay called it all "a great example, when you go back and watch the tape, of why the run game takes all 11 [men on the field]."
Over these next two weeks, Gurley and the starting offensive linemen are promised a lot more opportunities to do better.
"As special a player as he is, he doesn't ever put himself above anything else," McVay said of Gurley. "His expectation is, 'Until I'm told otherwise, I'm playing and I want to go compete.' That's what makes Todd a great competitor."