For two weeks, the Rams and Gurley himself insisted he was fine. He wasn’t. And the media sold their talking points for free.
Los Angeles Rams RB Todd Gurley was locked into a job share in Super Bowl LIII against the New England Patriots with RB C.J. Anderson because of Gurley’s knee.
On December 28 in the buildup to Week 16, Gurley admitted he initially injured his knee in Week 1 against the Oakland Raiders. It was aggravated in the game prior to his public disclosure to the point that the Rams shut him down in the final two games of the regular season. And despite a huge statistical output in the divisional round of the playoffs, the impact of the injury was clear in the NFC Championship against the New Orleans Saints in which Gurley had four carries, a career low, to go with just three targets.
And then came the sales job.
For whatever reason, the Rams decided to sell the idea that the knee was fine.
“He’s feeling good, a hundred percent,” said Rams Head Coach Sean McVay just two days ago. “We expect him to play a big role in this game.”
And then Gurley sat. For much of the game. At times, he’d put a towel over his head. Others, he’d be on the bike.
It wasn’t just obvious he was injured.
It was that it was obvious before tonight.
And yet Rams media never pushed back on Gurley’s knee.
Why?
Has local media subsumed to the cult of McVay to the point that they’re willing to assume that anything he utters is sacrosanct? That might be fine for fans and the public, but for an independent media congregation that’s supposed to make sure they report the truth, that’s an assumption that shouldn’t be made.
Were they simply willing to consider the idea that the Rams might be anything less than truthful? That might be more disappointing given the Rams’ INCREDIBLY long history of playing with the truth for a variety of reasons let alone the fact that Gurley disclosed the injury in late December after 15 games of keeping it private.
Did they simply buy the line that if he were injured, he’d be on the injury report? That’s awfully gullible especially given that Gurley addressed the Week 1 injury after 15 games none of which he appeared on the injury report for.
And so it is. Todd Gurley will have his knee cleaned up, his injured knee that the Rams sold as being in 100% shape a line the media were happy to parrot.
Perhaps now we’ll actually get answers to the questions they were unwilling to ask.
from Turf Show Times - All Posts http://bit.ly/2MOl8HA
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