Trainer: Gurley's knee has 'arthritic component,' plan to manage it unchanged

Todd Gurley tore his ACL in his junior season in college, and the star running back's trainer confirmed his client is dealing with an "arthritic component to his knee."

"Everybody knew when Todd came out of Georgia that there would be some kind of arthritic component to his knee, which is part of every surgery whether it's a shoulder, a knee, an ankle," Travelle Gaines told CBS Sports' Dave Richard last week.

"He's now at the year-five mark. All we're doing is managing that. If we can pound him less in the offseason while keeping his weight down, working on his strength, working on his agility in short areas, that's going to give him a better chance to be healthy Weeks 14 through 17 when they really count."

It was reported in March that Gurley has arthritis in his left knee.

The runner's decreased usage was one of the leading stories of the Los Angeles Rams' run to the Super Bowl; Gurley missed the final two games of the regular season and averaged just 10.6 carries over his final five appearances of the campaign, including the playoffs.

The Rams are reportedly expected to lighten Gurley's workload in 2019, with third-round pick Darrell Henderson likely to slide into the backup role that C.J. Anderson excelled in toward the end of last year.

However, Gaines doesn't envision too much change in how Los Angeles uses its franchise back.

"It's never been told to me that there's a plan to decrease his workload come Week 1," Gaines said. "At the end of the day, you need solid running backs, and they grabbed a home-run running back in the third round. ... If you watched the games last year, Todd typically sat out two to three series last year. I don't see anything changing with that, so you need a back who can catch, and I believe Darrell averaged around 9.0 yards per carry - a home-run type guy."

Head coach Sean McVay said last week that Gurley will "absolutely" be ready for training camp after sitting out all offseason workouts and minicamp. Gaines said the rest was needed if the Rams want to rely on his client late in the year.

"Todd was paid $60 million over four years and the Rams want to get every dime out of that contract," he said. "So what good is it to pound him in April and May when you need him in November, December, and January?"

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