In what could be considered an expected move, head coach Jeff Fisher announced on Saturday running back Todd Gurley will be on the sidelines for the entirety of the season opener on Sept. 13.
“Gurley’s not going to play this week,” Fisher said.
The No. 10 overall pick recently progressed to 7-on-7 and 11-on-11 work in practice, but has still had the non-contact yellow cap on his helmet. It remains to be seen whether or not he will progress to contact practices this week, but he will not play against Seattle.
Elsewhere at running back, Fisher said Saturday that Tre Mason’s hamstring has been doing better. The head coach previously told the media the Auburn product will likely be listed as questionable for Week 1.
“He had two treatment sessions today, and he’s doing well,” Fisher said. “We’ll see how he is during the week.”
And so while the starter at running back may still be unclear for now, Fisher said the coaches have been hard at work for a while in preparation for the opener.
“The staff is well ahead,” Fisher said. “We started that several weeks ago -- several months ago actually. So we’ve spent a lot of time on Seattle and they’re a really good team.”
With Gurley out, and Mason having a 50-50 shot of playing, Benny Cunningham and Trey Watts are next up on the depth chart. If Mason wouldn't be able to go, Cunningham could get a good portion of the work. It's going to be a very tough matchup against the Seahawks, however.
