[AvengerRam]

I might have the answer to that.

It's the weekend of the Conference Championships. Robert Kraft walks in to the Orchid of Asia Spa to get a hand job. He's led to a room and his usual girl appears a minute or two later.

"Hey Girly", Kraft says. "just a jerk and squirt today"
"Oh Mister Robert" Girly says, "I have arthritis in my wrist so it'll have to be a slurp and burb"
"Fine"

On his flight home to New England Kraft gets a call from Patriots beatwriter Howe.

"Any news on Jeffrey Epstein buying the Fins?" Howe asks

"No but I did find out Girly has arthritis" Kraft says, "what a shame. It's going to be tough to pound the …..(turbulence interrupts the phone call)….ock for a while."

Howe files that away for a future story.

LOL! The truth comes out at last! (no pun intended)

[Rams1PlateSince1976]

A plausible story. Just need to get a zn response so an additional 1.79 can go towards RFU buying naming rights to the stadium.

[CanuckRightWinger]

Nice theory Pennsylvania!

I will add this:
If PA is right, and it's "Chinese Girlie" with the arthritis...
and NOT our Ram RB Gurley with the affliction...

then for Ramsnation, the above scenario with an Arthritis-Free Todd Gurley?

well...for Ramsnation it would be

A Happy Ending!!!

[/zn/]

OTOH, it's out there and people are talking about it. Howe is a real reporter. I don't take his report as fact but i give it more credence than a guy who knows a guy who knows a guy rumor type of thing

The team is not clarifying this. And it could. A reputable reporter for a reputable journal states that a source reveals TG has some kind of (unnamed) arthritic condition. On the face of it, that corresponds with what we have seen with TG, but saying that is not assuming it's fact, it's just one more thing to note. The team called his condition normal wear and tear, but they said that before the arthritis story, plus he had pain and inflammation after game 1, and you don't say game 1 is normal wear and tear. The arthritis story has legs (it even appeared in SI), and sooner or later someone is going to ask the team, if several people haven;t already. So far the team isn't saying anything (not publicly anyway). Yet it would be really simple and easy if it were not true for the team to just say "no, that's not true." And of course them saying nothing (so far) isn't evidence of anything either. It's just yet another thing to note.

[/zn/]

Snead, McVay dodge questions about whether Todd Gurley has arthritis

Cameron DaSilva

https://theramswire.usatoday.com/2019/0 ... ean-mcvay/

Most of the headlines coming out of Thousand Oaks for the Los Angeles Rams have been about the team’s offseason moves thus far. they’ve moved on from John Sullivan and Mark Barron, signed Eric Weddle and Dante Fowler Jr. and lost Rodger Saffold to the Tennessee Titans.

As big as all of those transactions are, there’s still a cloud hanging over the Rams’ heads: Todd Gurley’s knee. Everywhere he goes, from Ric Flair’s birthday party to an event at a local school where he gave kids backpacks and books, Gurley gets asked about his knee.
After reports surfaced that the Rams will consider stem cell treatment and that he has arthritis in his knee, there’s no lack of concern in L.A. when it comes to the team’s star running back. It doesn’t help that Les Snead and Sean McVay have remained tight-lipped on the situation, saying it’s merely wear and tear.

They hadn’t spoken to the media since the arthritis report … until Tuesday. After Weddle’s introductory press conference, Snead fielded questions from reporters, predictably ones about Gurley’s knee. Rather than setting the record straight, Snead danced around those questions and wouldn’t give a solid answer.

“What we said is he’s had a lot of carries over the last few years,” Snead said, via Lindsey Thiry of ESPN. “And so anything you hear us say, any plan is basically hey — and I would say this not just with Todd Gurley, right, it might be with our wide receivers because they’ve played a lot of snaps over the last few years — is hey, what can we do to help those guys be as fresh as possible at the end of the season.”

When Snead was asked specifically about the validity of the report suggesting Gurley has arthritis, he continued his two-step and dodged the question with a coy response. He jokingly said it would be a plus if Gurley had arthritis because that’s nothing a little Aleve can’t fix.
“That would be good then, because all you got to do is take Aleve. Right?” he replied.

After tiptoeing around the first two questions, Snead was asked to give a yes or no answer as to whether Gurley is dealing with arthritis. And again, he deflected, neither denying nor confirming the report.

“With all NFL players when it comes to trying to be fresh at the end of the year, there is an element of probably shades of gray of how fresh you are and what that reason is,” Snead said. “So I would counter your, ‘It’s either a yes or a no.’ I’m not sure you’ve ever gone through a 16-game NFL season, but if you have you probably would understand that shade of gray.”
It’s hard to blame Snead for avoiding the questions because of the additional concerns that would come if he admitted Gurley has arthritis. That diagnosis wouldn’t be a career-ender, but it would potentially change the Rams’ plans at running back moving forward.

Arthritis isn’t something that just goes away with Aleve like Snead jokingly said it would. It doesn’t get better with time. Just the opposite, actually. One doctor even said Gurley’s best years are likely behind him as a result of this potential condition.

By saying “wear and tear,” perhaps McVay and Snead are suggesting it is arthritis without actually saying it. They’re not afraid to admit something was hindering Gurley, they just won’t say exactly what it was besides him having a heavy workload and not feeling as fresh as usual.

That’s what McVay indicated again on Tuesday when he was asked about Gurley’s knee.

“I don’t know exactly medically when you categorize what arthritis is,” McVay said. “I do know that just from the amount of work that he’s had, there’s been a wear and tear on that knee.”

We may never know what’s wrong with Gurley’s knee. The Rams may never come out and say he has arthritis. Players deal with that condition every season, but that doesn’t necessarily mean it has to be reported or announced to the public. It’s especially common in players with surgically repaired knees, and given Gurley’s contract situation and usage late in the season, it makes the entire thing more precarious.

If Gurley plays as if nothing is wrong next season, very little will be made about the injury. But if he only gets 15 carries per game in 2019, those difficult questions will come up again.

[AvengerRam]

"Les Snead's press conference is brought to you by... Aleve. Aleve - all day long, all day strong."

What I'm taking those answers to mean is simply that "arthritis" is a very broad term that is likely applicable to many NFL players, so it does not pay to confirm or deny that Gurley suffers from some form of that condition, as doing so would create unintended sound bites.

[Elvis]

https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/sp ... story.html

Report of Todd Gurley arthritis likely means limited workload ahead

ProFootballDoc
Sports Medical Analyst

Questions continue to swirl about whether Todd Gurley’s left knee was injured for the NFC Championship game and Super Bowl.

The Rams have denied it and only reported Gurley had inflammation in the knee. Teammate C.J. Anderson implied Gurley was hurt but then backtracked. Head Coach Sean McVay said this week that if the current situation remains “unique options” (such as stem cells) could be considered as treatment.

Amidst all that comes a definitive report of arthritis.

Jeff Howe

@jeffphowe
Rams running back Todd Gurley has arthritis in his knee, according to a source. Helps explain his limited usage in the playoffs.

1,673
7:10 AM - Mar 2, 2019
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In 2014 at Georgia, Gurley had an ACL tear in his left knee. The arthritis is presumably in the same knee.

The news of arthritis is not a shock.

The important question is how much and to what extent.

It is not uncommon for arthritis to begin with an ACL tear. If the articular cartilage is like tread on your tires, arthritis can be considered any wear or tear to the tread of the tire. Most tires have wear and tear. The problem arises if there is too much.

If the arthritis is full thickness, this will be a bigger issue.

Gurley’s former Georgia teammate, Patriots running back Sony Michel, was known to have arthritis in his knee when the Patriots selected him in the first round in 2018. Michel started Super Bowl LII, scored the game's only touchdown and rushed for nearly 100 yards.

This doesn’t necessarily signal the end of Gurley's career.

He was, after all, clocked as the fastest player on the field during the Super Bowl.

This does explain his usage at the end of the season and in the playoffs. It also signals a high likelihood he won’t have the 250-plus rushes (and 300-plus touches) he has had each of the past three seasons, as his workload will have to be managed.

Copyright 2019, The San Diego Union-Tribune

[AvengerRam]

Amidst all that comes a definitive report of arthritis.

I wouldn't call that a "definitive report" but, okay....

The news of arthritis is not a shock.

The important question is how much and to what extent.

Exactly.

He was, after all, clocked as the fastest player on the field during the Super Bowl.

I was not aware of that. Probably was clocked on the run that was called back due to a bogus holding penalty.

[snackdaddy]

"Les Snead's press conference is brought to you by... Aleve. Aleve - all day long, all day strong."

What I'm taking those answers to mean is simply that "arthritis" is a very broad term that is likely applicable to many NFL players, so it does not pay to confirm or deny that Gurley suffers from some form of that condition, as doing so would create unintended sound bites.

Yeah, I was always under the impression that most everyone has some form of arthritis to a degree. Professional athletes would be more prone than the average person. Our bodies will start the process of wear and tear when we reach adulthood.

I've had arthritis in my hips and back for years. I recently found out I have it in my left knee. Its kinda weird though. During the day it doesn't bother me but I wake up in the middle of the night with it aching and it feels swollen. My leg that is.

The thing is, its manageable. Reduce Gurley's workload and he should be ok. Which is something they should do with all running backs.

I'm far from a pro athlete but I won't let that keep me from doing things I like to do. Like walk 18 holes on a golf course a couple times a week.

[/zn/]

Yeah, I was always under the impression that most everyone has some form of arthritis to a degree. .

He was in pain after the 1st game (oakland) and it limited him in game 2 (arizona). He had pain and inflammation later in the season. It's the same knee that was operated on.

This is NOT a case of something everyone has, not unless everyone has a condition on a surgical knee that hurts them so much they talk about quitting the game (which is what TG said about the experience after game 1).

I understand the efforts to write this out of existence but it is looking less and less plausible to do that.

....