Atlanta Falcons OC Dirk Koetter on Todd Gurley II: "No one seems to know" about health status
The Atlanta Falcons 'virtual' offseason is well under way, and today, offensive coordinator Dirk Koetter spoke to the media via video. Among many topics addressed were the status of Todd Gurley II, competition on the offensive line and how the club can work to gel together given the inherit challenges of working virtually.
The big news coming out of the call was Koetter virtually admitting the severe degree of uncertainty regarding Gurley's knee issues.
"The one thing that no one seems to know is what's his health status, his workload," said Koetter. "Last season he averaged about 17 touches a game last year, which is a little bit lower than what he was at as an All-Pro."
Koetter noted the team feels good about all of the running backs on the depth chart, but added questions about how to access development virtually:
"I don't know about development. The only development we're doing right now is virtually," Koetter added. "As far as physical development, Ito (Smith) is coming off injury. I thought Brian Hill and Qadree (Ollison) did a nice job in filling the roles they were asked to play last year."
Atlanta knew what they were getting into when they signed Gurley, as his knee issues have been documented widely and ultimately led to his release from the Los Angeles Rams. According to NFL Network's Ian Rapoport, the physical has still not taken place due to COVID-19 precautions but those close to Gurley remain optimistic.
The Falcons must have some level of comfort for the situation or they would not have signed the former All-Pro back, but for now all we can do is wait for the physical, and ultimately, actually seeing Gurley play again.
