Tag: falcons rb todd gurley

Todd Gurley ‘mad as hell’ about scoring late TD, giving Lions time to win game

Former Georgia football RB Todd Gurley is ‘mad as hell’ about scoring a late TD that gave Lions’ QB Matthew Stafford time to win game.

Todd Gurley might’ve had his first touchdown he’s ever regretted scoring this past Sunday against the Detroit Lions.  With 1:04 left in the game, Detroit out of timeouts and the Atlanta Falcons down 16-14 to the Lions, Gurley ran a touchdown in on first and goal.

Obviously the Flacons needed to score to win but they also left too much time on the clock for Lions’ quarterback Matthew Stafford to mount a 75-yard drive leading to a T.J. Hockenson touchdown as time expired.

Gurley clearly tried to stop himself from going in but his momentum carried him into the end zone accidentally.

“I was mad as hell,” said Gurley on the touchdown. “I was trying not to (score). My momentum took me in.”

This was a mental mistake from Gurley that he was very unhappy about.  Atlanta could have easily killed the remaining time on the clock and kicked a game winning field goal as time expired to win by one point.

“It’s one of them unfortunate situations. I’ve been in plenty of those situations since my rookie year, about six or seven. I’ve always got down, just an unfortunate one right there.”

“We talked about it in the huddle, probably a couple plays prior to that,” Gurley said. “And I know that, like I said, I’ve been in multiple situations over my years in the league. Just one of those unfortunate ones.”

Even though Atlanta’s defense let up a 75-yard drive for a touchdown in just one minute, Gurley owned up for his mistake and took all the blame for the loss.

“I’ll man up, take the responsibility. Tried to go down but I didn’t,” said Gurley. “Trying is not good enough, so just got to do better on my behalf.”

Gurley and the Falcons now drop to 1-6 as they face off against the Carolina Panthers in Charlotte this Thursday night.

Todd Gurley goes off in Falcons third straight loss

Former Georgia football RB Todd Gurley goes off in the Atlanta Falcons third straight devastating loss.

Former Georgia running back Todd Gurley went off for the Falcons in yet another demoralizing loss.

Gurley went for 80 yards and a touchdown on 14 carries, putting him at 14th on the 2020 rushing yards list.

The Falcons led by a score of 26-10 going into the fourth quarter but were blanked 20-0 in the fourth, losing 30-26.  This is the second straight week that the Falcons have blown double-digit leads going into the fourth.

It’s definitely nice to see Gurley getting his legs back underneath him with his new team.

Gurley and the 0-3 Falcons travel to Green Bay next Monday to face off in a prime time matchup against Aaron Rodgers, Aaron Jones and the Packers.

NFL legend LaDainian Tomlinson skeptical about Falcons RB Todd Gurley

Hall of Fame NFL RB Ladainian Tomlinson is doubtful about former Georgia football RB Todd Gurley and his future in the NFL.

Former Georgia Bulldogs running back Todd Gurley had somewhat of an off-year last season by his standards.

Coming off seasons in which he won Offensive Player of the Year and the NFC Championship, he was released by the very team that drafted him 10th overall in the first-round of the 2015 NFL Draft.

Former San Diego Chargers running back and Hall of Famer Ladainian Tomlinson weighed in on the state of Gurley, his knee and his future in the league.

“I was the first guy that thought Todd Gurley would bounce back in 2019. I just figured that what happened to him at the end of 2018 was a fluke and he would be fine in 2019. And I didn’t see that,” Tomlinson said during Friday’s episode of NFL Total Access.

Gurley suffered an ACL tear his junior year at UGA and the public had not seen any complications until late in the 2018 season.

“He averaged less than four yards a carry for the second time in his career,” said Tomlinson. “But beyond that, his longest run was 25 yards. So I see a guy that doesn’t have that explosiveness to him no more. I don’t believe he’s a guy that can hit the home run on every-single play. He can still be very serviceable. He still has double-digit touchdowns.”

Tomlinson’s feelings are that Gurley will be useful in situations such as goal-line plays, but will need a supporting cast to get through the season, and hopefully the playoffs.

“But I believe that at this point in his career, he’s going to need a committee of backs to help him stay fresh.” Tomlinson said. “We still may see situations where he might break out and have 125 yards, but those days of him having seven-yard runs, I don’t think we’re going to see that ever again from Todd Gurley. I think his knee is just too bad at this point.”

Gurley feels quite different about the situation.

He turned 1,483 touches (1,265 carries and 218 receptions) into 7,494 scrimmage yards (5,404 rushing and 2,090 receiving) for the Los Angeles Rams, averaging 5.1 yards per attempt (4.3 per rush and 9.6 per reception) and accounting for 70 touchdowns (58 rushing and 12 receiving) in 73 games (72 starts) from 2015-2019.

After being released by the Rams this offseason, Gurley signed a one-year deal with the Atlanta Falcons in March. Although Atlanta is not his hometown, playing college ball 71 miles up the road in Athens has made Georgia a second home for him.

Gurley is hoping to shake off the 2019 season in which he averaged 3.8 yards per carry and had a long run of 25 yards. He pounded 12 touchdowns, but the numbers were down from his previous years.

“Obviously, no one wants to get cut or traded or what not, but some things you can see coming, man, you know?” Gurley said on an episode of UNINTERRUPTED: We Run This Station.

Gurley understands that the Rams made a business decision, but is still hoping to prove himself as an elite back in the league.

“I’m excited, though.” said Gurley. “I’m not even going to lie. It’s like a good feeling, like a fresh start, but you’ve already been there before. So it’s like the comfortable feeling of just being able to go back to Georgia.”

Falcons OC says only question mark for Todd Gurley is durability

Atlanta Falcons OC Dirk Koetter talks about the concerns with former Georgia football star, new Falcons running back Todd Gurley.

Atlanta Falcons offensive coordinator Dirk Koetter was pretty straight forward with the media about new running back Todd Gurley and his health concerns.

The 25-year-old sixth year pro is reportedly dealing with arthritis in his surgically repaired left knee.

Per ESPN‘s Vaughn McClure:

“He can still do it. It’s just a matter of how often can he do it,” Koetter said.

After being released by the L.A. Rams, Gurley returned to Georgia to sign a one-year $5.5 million deal with the Atlanta Falcons this offseason. The former Georgia football star was drafted by the Rams in 2015 NFL Draft and in his five seasons Gurley made three Pro Bowls while being named to the All-Pro team twice, in addition to winning NFL Offensive Player of the Year in 2017.

However, in 2019, Gurley’s knee issues surfaced and the Rams questioned his durability – ultimately leading to his release just two years after signing a four-year extension worth $45 million guaranteed.

“This guy, when he’s at his best, he’s got speed, he’s got power, he can break tackles, he’s elusive, he can catch the ball out of the backfield,” Koetter continued. “We’ve all seen what he can do. His accolades speak for themselves. We just have to see how healthy he is and how consistently he can do it.”

Gurley’s deal with the Falcons is still awaiting a physical and due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Falcons staff hasn’t been able to evaluate him just yet.

“I know from talking to Todd that he’s fired up to be coming back to Georgia. He can do everything. He’s an excellent runner. He’s good in the pass game. He can protect. The main question that no one seems to know is, ‘What’s his health status? What’s his workload?’ He averaged about 17 touches a game last year, which is a little bit lower than he had been when he was All-Pro. We’re just going to have to find that out once we get here and get him working, get him up and running.”