The Sports Report: Will the Rams bring back Todd Gurley?

Howdy, I’m your host, Houston Mitchell. Let’s get right to the news.

Sam Farmer on the Rams: What the Rams plan to do at running back has yet to be determined.

What they don’t plan to do is more clear.

In his first face-to-face meeting with reporters Monday, coach Sean McVay dampened speculation of a reunion with free agent running back Todd Gurley, once the centerpiece of the Rams’ offense.

“I don’t think that’s something we’re exploring right now, just the veteran route,” said McVay, in search of answers at the position in the wake of the season-ending torn Achilles tendon Cam Akers sustained while working out last week. The Rams open training camp Wednesday at UC Irvine.

“Todd has obviously been a huge part of a lot of good things for the Rams. I know for me personally, I’m very grateful for all the good things that Todd did and what it meant for our team’s success and the leader that he was.”

After the Rams released him, Gurley signed with the Atlanta Falcons before last season and wound up running for 678 yards and nine touchdowns. Recently, Hall of Fame running back Eric Dickerson told TMZ Sports that re-signing Gurley would be a “no-brainer” for the Rams.

McVay didn’t permanently close the door on the possibility — “To say that you would never do it, you don’t want to pigeonhole yourself into that…” — but said he’s focused on the running backs currently on the roster, in particular Darrell Henderson.

“He’s the most established guy in that room,” McVay said of the third-year back who ran for 624 yards and five touchdowns last season. “You can see when he gets the ball in his hand and puts his foot in the ground, there’s a burst and he’s sturdy too.”

COLLEGE FOOTBALL

With Texas and Oklahoma moving to the SEC and forming a superconference, a group of Los Angeles Times writers gathered for a key experiment.

Commissioners Thuc Nhi Nguyen, Bill Plaschke, J. Brady McCollough and Ryan Kartje agreed to draft four, 16-team superconferences.

What would the highest level of college football’s conference maps look like if there were no rules, other than a draft? Click here to find out.

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More than a decade after he sued for defamation, former USC football assistant coach Todd McNair has reached a settlement agreement with the NCAA, closing the book on a long-running legal saga that began in 2010, when the organization first accused him of unethical conduct during its investigation into improper benefits received by former Trojans star Reggie Bush.

While the NCAA’s sanctions against USC had long expired and Bush was welcomed back to campus last summer after a 10-year ban, McNair’s legal battle remained the last vestige of the landmark infractions case.

That final loose end was resolved Monday when the two sides announced in a joint statement that a settlement agreement was reached via mediation.

“After ten years of litigation, both sides have come together to resolve this matter to the mutual satisfaction of all parties involved,” attorneys for McNair and the NCAA said in a statement.

ANGELS

Shohei Ohtani pitched seven strong innings and hit an early RBI single as the Angels beat the Colorado Rockies 6-2 on Monday night.

In his 15th pitching start of the season and second since the All-Star break, Ohtani (5-1) gave up one run and five hits with five strikeouts. He has allowed a combined one run in two pitching appearances since participating in the Home Run Derby and starting on the mound in the All-Star Game at Colorado this month.

Jack Mayfield added a two-run homer for the Angels, his fourth of the season and third in his last five games. Raisel Iglesias worked a scoreless ninth for his 22nd save in 26 chances.

Rockies starter German Marquez, also an All-Star, kept his team close until Mayfield’s seventh-inning homer. Dom Nunez and Brendan Rodgers went deep for Colorado.

Ohtani gave Los Angeles a 1-0 lead two Angels batters into the game when he rolled a broken-bat single through the infield and into right-center to score David Fletcher from second base.

Ohtani then stole second and scored on Jared Walsh’s one-out single for a 2-0 advantage.

OLYMPICS

Where’s the Olympics coverage? You will be receiving a special Olympics edition of the Sports Report, which should hit your inbox around 7 a.m. PT each day, and will run daily during the Games. You can also check out all of our Olympics coverage by clicking here.

THIS DATE IN SPORTS

1920 — Resolute defeats Shamrock IV of Britain to defend the America’s Cup title for the United States.

1937 — The United States wins the Davis Cup by beating Britain four matches to one.

1954 — Chick Harbart beats Walter Burkemo 4 and 3 in the final round to win the PGA championship.

1969 — Betsy Rawls wins the LPGA championship by four strokes over Sue Berning and Carol Mann.

1973 — The Miami Dolphins beat the College All-Stars 14-3 in Chicago.

1986 — Greg LeMond becomes the first American to win the Tour de France. LeMond’s teammate, Bernard Hinault of France, finishes second.

1986 — Pat Bradley sinks a 12-foot birdie putt on the first playoff hole to defeat hard-charging Japanese veteran Ayako Okamoto in the LPGA-du Maurier tournament. Bradley birdied five of the first six holes and finishes at 6-under 66 for a 72-hole total of 276.

1986 — Speedskater Bonnie Blair sets a U.S. Olympic Festival record for total medals won with 16 and total golds with 10 by taking two titles.

1986 — Bobby Hillin Jr. becomes the youngest winner in the history of NASCAR stock car racing, surviving the Talladega 500 at Alabama International Motor Speedway. Hillin, 22, takes the lead from Tim Richmond eight laps from the end of the 188-lap event.

1987 — The Salt Lake Trappers, an independent team in the Pioneer League, have their record 29-game winning streak snapped with a 7-5 loss to Billings.

1992 — Patty Sheehan shoots a 1-over 72 for a two-stroke victory over Juli Inkster in their 18-hole playoff in the U.S. Women’s Open.

1993 — Reggie Lewis, the 27-year-old Boston Celtics star who collapsed during a playoff game on April 29 from a heart ailment, dies after a light workout at the team’s practice facility at Brandeis University.

1996 — Canada’s Donovan Bailey sets the world record to win the 100 meters in 9.84 seconds at the Summer Olympics. The Atlanta Games are later marred by the Centennial Olympic Park bombing that kills Alice Hawthorne, wounds 111 others.

2002 — John Ruiz retains the WBA heavyweight title after getting off the canvas three times — all after low blows — and lasting long enough for Kirk Johnson to be disqualified.

2005 — Grant Hackett bumps off one of swimming’s most enduring world records, eclipsing Ian Thorpe’s mark in the 800-meter freestyle. The 6-foot-6 Hackett claims his second gold and third medal of the World Swimming Championships with a time of 7:38.65, breaking the mark set four years earlier by his countryman Thorpe.

2006 — Floyd Landis’ stunning Tour de France victory just four days earlier is thrown into question when he tests positive for high levels of testosterone during the race.

2008 — Carlos Sastre wins the Tour de France in one of the closest finishes in the 105-year-old race. The third Spaniard in a row to win cycling’s premier event, Sastre holds his 65-second lead over Cadel Evans of Australia. As in the last two years, this year’s Tour is plagued by doping.

2013 — Candace Parker scores a record 23 points to lead the West to a 102-98 win over the East and earn MVP honors in the WNBA All-Star game.

2013 — Hunter Mahan withdraws from the RBC Canadian Open after his wife went into labor. Mahan, the tournament leader at 13 under after 36 holes, had yet to tee off for the third round.

2014 — Italy’s Vincenzo Nibali wins the Tour de France, becoming the first Italian to win cycling’s greatest race in 16 years. Nibali is the sixth rider to win all three Grand Tours — France, Italy and Spain— and is the first Italian to win the Tour de France since Marco Pantani in 1998.

2014 — Martina Hingis leads Washington to its fourth straight World TeamTennis title and fifth in six years, beating Olga Govortsova 5-2 in singles in the Kastles’ 25-13 victory over the Springfield Lasers.

2015 — The Arizona Cardinals hire Jen Welter to coach inside linebackers through their upcoming training camp and preseason. The Cardinals say Welter is believed to be the first woman to hold a coaching position of any kind in the NFL.

And finally

Vin Scully on how a player survived a wolf attack. Watch it here.