St. Louis Rams rookie running back Todd Gurley will not play at all this preseason, coach Jeff Fisher confirmed Friday.
Fisher previously had strongly hinted that Gurley would not play in the preseason. But for those paying attention as the Rams warmed up against the Oakland Raiders on Friday night, Gurley looked closer to a return than ever.
Fisher was asked to confirm that he never considered playing Gurley in the preseason opener.
"Correct," Fisher told reporters. "Nor am I going to play him next week or the week after. I'm not going to play him for at least the rest of preseason. But the warmup benefit is certainly part of his rehab, and it's really good experience for him."
While Gurley continues to make progress in his rehab, the Rams are sticking to their plan not to hurry him back from the injury.
Gurley, who is still recovering from a torn left ACL suffered last November at Georgia, was dressed in his full uniform, went through pregame warmups with his teammates and looking the part of a player on the verge of a return sooner than later. Then, as expected, Gurley didn't play against the Raiders. Fisher said it was good for Gurley to go through the warmup as part of his rehab. It looks like the Rams are in no hurry to give Gurley a full workload to the start of the season so this news is a bit of a hit to his fantasy value. It looks like Tre Mason could get a bump up, but at some point this season it's hard to imagine Mason and Gurley won't at least split carries. Gurley is still the long term value while Mason's short term value may get an extension.
