McVay hopeful Gurley can get 25 carries per game
The Los Angeles Rams have insisted Todd Gurley's workload isn't being limited this season, but the star running back continues to see significantly less action in comparison to recent years.
Rams head coach Sean McVay said Wednesday that he's aiming to get the former Offensive Player of the Year - who has 44 rushing attempts through three weeks - around 25 carries per game moving forward.
"That's the hope," McVay said, according to Pro Football Talk's Mike Florio. "If you look back at our Denver (Broncos) game last year, it comes (to) mind when you mention that. There were some different things where what they were doing. He got into a really good rhythm and he ended up having about that many carries and 200-plus yards.
"You'd like to be able to say that because that means everything is going really well. Each game ends up representing new challenges and different responses from us, based on what we think is the best way to move the ball."
Gurley finished fourth in rushing attempts in both 2017 (279) and 2018 (256). The 25-year-old was also a large part of Los Angeles' passing attack in McVay's first two seasons, catching a combined 123 passes.
However, Gurley split touches with C.J. Anderson during the Rams' postseason run to the Super Bowl as he dealt with an ongoing knee issue.
Anderson left in the offseason but L.A. has continued to siphon off Gurley's work. Former undrafted free agent Malcolm Brown has 20 carries and two short-distance touchdown runs thus far, though his rushing attempts have declined each game.
"I think it's really, more than anything, the feel of the flow of a game, getting Malcolm involved, too," McVay said. "We love Todd. Todd's been extremely important. He still is and he's going to be as the season progresses.
"But Malcolm's a guy that we want to get involved as well and we feel like the way that those guys have kind of balanced it out has worked out through the first three games. We just haven't really gotten enough opportunities to get things going."
Gurley faces a stiff test in Week 4 in the form of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers' sixth-ranked run defense.
Copyright (C) 2019 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.