Falcons RB Todd Gurley Says He’s Open To Sitting Out Season If NFL Doesn’t Improve Safety Plan

Falcons RB Todd Gurley said during an appearance on “Tiki & Tierney“ of 92.9 in Atlanta that the NFL’s plans to restart are “really not structured right.”

“It’s really not structured right,” Gurley said. “There’s not a proper plan in place that I’m comfortable with. I don’t have a wife. I don’t have any kids. You have to look at guys on the other side who have [a] pregnant wife, kids and a wife that they go home to every single day. I just feel like we just need to come up with something a lot better than what they’re giving us. Everything they gave us is pretty last minute. We should have been able to have answers weeks ago, if not months ago.”

Gurley added that he’s open to sitting out the 2020 season if the NFL doesn’t come up with a better plan to ensure the safety of players. 

“Oh yeah, you have to be prepared to not play or be prepared to have a half a season,” Gurley said. “If they don’t do things right, we won’t have a full season. It’s just how things have been going so far this year. Hopefully everything goes well, but I don’t see [it]. It just doesn’t sit well right now.”

The topic of players possibly sitting out the season is only going to increase from here as training camp and the regular season draw closer. As of now, no one has committed to sitting out the season. 

Gurley officially passed his physical for Atlanta back in June. 

Gurley, 25, is a former first-round pick of the Rams back in 2015. He was entering the final year of his four-year, $13.823 million contract and stood to make a base salary of $2.31 million for the 2018 season when the Rams picked up his fifth-year option. 

Gurley later agreed to a new four-year extension worth $60 million and includes $45 million guaranteed with the Rams a few months later before being released in March.

Atlanta quickly scooped up Gurley with a one-year, $6 million deal.  

In 2019, Gurley appeared in 15 games for the Rams and rushed for 857 yards on 223 carries (3.8 YPC) to go along with 31 receptions for 207 yards receiving and 14 total touchdowns. Pro Football Focus has him rated as the No. 36 running back out of 58 qualifying players.