ST. LOUIS — Rams rookie running back Todd Gurley didn’t get a lot of reps during Tuesday’s practice, but the No. 10 overall pick in the 2015 Draft took another step forward in his return from knee surgery.
“I was real excited,” Gurley said. “I got the news a couple days ago, so I was definitely excited just to be able to get out here and get some reps.”
Rams coach Jeff Fisher announced Monday that Gurley had been cleared to ramp up his work in practice. He had previously been limited to individual and rehab work and held out of 7-on-7 and team drills. He took part in those on Tuesday, but still didn’t get a lot of reps.
It was another positive step for the 21-year-old rookie.
“I haven’t done nothing like this in like nine months, 10 months,” Gurley said. “So it’s been a while. I’m definitely excited about it.”
The Rams were excited to get Gurley a little more work.
“Todd was excited to get in there and get a few offensive reps and get challenged with protections and formations and all that stuff,” Fisher said. “He was good. We’ll probably do this for the next few days and then we’ll just add reps for him as we move forward.”
The Rams will continue to take it slow with Gurley, whose junior season at Georgia was limited to six games after tearing the ACL in his left knee. He rushed for 911 yards and nine touchdowns in those six games with the Bulldogs last season and added 12 catches for 57 yards.
“It was great having him out there,” Rams quarterback Nick Foles said. “He’s going to be an impactful player in this league. I’m excited to get him out there and see what he’s capable of doing. I know what he was capable of doing in college, so I’m excited to see what he does on this level for us.”
Gurley was one of the best players in college football during his three years at Georgia.
In 30 career games, he racked up 3,900 yards from scrimmage (3,285 yards rushing, 575 receiving) and 43 total touchdowns (36 rushing, six receiving and one kickoff return).
Cowboys’ Scandrick injured
Dallas cornerback Orlando Scandrick left practice at training camp Tuesday with what he told his secondary coach he believed was a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee.
Scandrick went down working against rookie receiver Lucky Whitehead and was carted off the field. The Cowboys were awaiting results of an MRI.
“He said immediately, ‘It’s my ACL. I know it. It’s gone,’” secondary coach Jerome Henderson said. “I hope he’s just really dramatic.”
The other defensive backs formed a circle for a prayer when practice ended.
“I heard it in his voice,” said cornerback Morris Claiborne, a top-10 pick in 2012 who has had injury issues, including a torn patellar tendon in his left knee that limited him to four games last year. “After just sitting there and looking at him and just holding his hand, squeezing. I know that feeling.”
Whitehead said he bent down when he thought Scandrick was going to hit him as the receiver came out of a route. Whitehead said his shoulder pad hit Scandrick’s knee, although video showed Scandrick’s knee buckling before they made contact.
“I kind of felt it,” Whitehead said. “Hope he will be OK.”
Titans players held out of practice
NASHVILLE, Tenn. – With a very short turnaround between preseason games, a handful of Titans got a break from practice Tuesday.
Coach Ken Whisenhunt also kept backup quarterback Zach Mettenberger and running back Dexter McCluster away from the team to prevent any illness from spreading to the other players.
A total of 12 Titans did not practice Tuesday. Kicker Ryan Succop’s wife gave birth to a son, Cooper, earlier in the day, and right guard Chance Warmack had an ingrown toenail on each foot removed.
Whisenhunt said Warmack and most of the other missing players are expected to practice Wednesday.
The Titans beat St. Louis 27-14 on Sunday night and visit Kansas City on Friday night. Whisenhunt says Mettenberger was sick with what is believed to be food poisoning, while McCluster has a virus. Both saw a doctor before being sent home because of the risk of being contagious.
“On a short week, we couldn’t afford to have a bunch of guys sick,” Whisenhunt said.
Left tackle Taylor Lewan was asked if he ate at the same place as Mettenberger.
“If I did, I’ll find out real quick,” Lewan said.
Other missing Titans included cornerback Jason McCourty, who had groin surgery Monday and is expected to miss at least the next two weeks, and cornerback Blidi Wreh-Wilson, who is close to returning from a high left ankle sprain.
Cruz’s comeback hampered by injuries
EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. – Receiver Victor Cruz is hoping to be ready for the New York Giants’ regular-season opener against Dallas despite not playing in the first two games of the preseason.
Cruz, who is coming back from his second knee surgery in as many years, missed practice again on Tuesday with a calf injury that has sidelined him for a week.
It’s an injury that happened last week, and one that has coach Tom Coughlin concerned.
Cruz was limited at the start of training camp coming off surgery and the calf injury has prevented him from getting back into football shape. He played six games last season because of a torn right patellar tendon, and did little working out with the team in the offseason.
The 28-year-old Cruz felt he was making progress before the calf injury.
“It’s just a matter of getting back out there, so I think that’s my goal to be ready Week 1, and in the interim make sure I’m getting myself ready back here when you guys are not watching,” he said. “I feel good, I feel confident that I’ll be OK come Week 1.”
Coughlin would like Cruz to play in a preseason game, he recalled that Odell Beckham Jr. didn’t play in the preseason last year and had an outstanding season with 91 catches for 1,305 yards and 12 touchdowns in 12 games.
“You want them to play, that’s what the plan was,” Coughlin said of Cruz. “If it doesn’t work out that way, then what’s the next thing? We can’t worry about something that, right now, is not within our control.”
Broncos sign pro-bowler Evan Mathis
ENGLEWOOD, Colo. – Not long after praising his young offensive line Tuesday, Broncos coach Gary Kubiak welcomed two-time Pro Bowl guard Evan Mathis to Denver. The 11th-year pro agreed to a one-year deal that could be worth up to $4 million.
Suddenly, Peyton Manning goes from having three NFL novices protecting him to working behind a line with a top set of guards.
Mathis and Louis Vasquez were first-team AP All-Pros in 2013.
The Broncos remain high on rookie left guard Max Garcia, but they already have two starters — left tackle Ty Sambrailo and center Matt Paradis — who have never started an NFL regular-season game.
General manager John Elway said Mathis “will immediately make our team better.”