For Openers, It’s Raiders-Jets, Rams-Broncos : Redden Turns Silent as His Team Faces AFC West Champions
On the day he is being asked to replace Eric Dickerson, what is in the mind of Barry Redden?
His coach doesn’t know. Even his best friend doesn’t know. And he isn’t about to say.
“He doesn’t tell me much more than he tells anybody else,” said another Ram running back, A. J. Jones, who rooms with Redden at an Anaheim motel.
Bruce Snyder, who coaches the running backs, has no clue what Redden thinks.
“He is so private he is not going to share the emotion, which is fine, as long as he’s ready to play,” Snyder said.
That will be in doubt until the 1 p.m. kickoff at Anaheim Stadium against the Denver Broncos. Redden, who averaged 5.9 yards on 53 attempts in the exhibition season, sprained his right ankle in the last exhibition game eight days ago and practiced little the past week.
The latest word from Coach John Robinson was, “I think he’ll play, but I can’t say how much.”
Next in line is Charles White, followed by Jones and the newest arrival, Lynn Cain.
Today’s games mark the cutback from 49- to 45-man rosters. Even 49 wouldn’t be enough to replace Dickerson, but no coach in the NFL is pleased about it--least of all, Denver’s Dan Reeves.
“That’s right,” Reeves said. “At the meeting when it was voted on, there were only two coaches there: (Miami’s Don) Shula and myself. One of the more ridiculous things was said by (Cincinnati Bengals general manager) Paul Brown when he said that ‘I’ve been in football for years and practices are no different now with 49 players than they were when we had 30-some players.’
“Well, he was never a player that had to practice, and I was. You can have better practices at 49 . . . more realistic practices at a speed like game-like conditions. (What he said) doesn’t even make logical sense. But so many people believe Paul Brown because Paul Brown was a great football coach.”
The owners were attracted to the idea because they thought it would save money. But in most cases those four extra salaries, which are among the lowest on the team, anyway, simply wind up on injured reserve, and the coaches have the dilemma of wasting a roster spot on a third quarterback they may never need.
Reeves said: “We tried to bring it up the next day--’Look, would you go for 45 and a quarterback?’ And Paul Brown (said), ‘No. It’s out of the question.’ ”
The Rams are carrying three, with Jeff Kemp and Steve Dils behind Dieter Brock. Dils will hold for kicker Mike Lansford. Kemp will hold a clipboard.
Reeves prefers to have a third quarterback who participates more actively. His third quarterback is the punter, Chris Norman, who averaged only 37.9 yards in the exhibition season, four yards less than a rival who was cut. But Reeves insisted he didn’t keep Norman because he also could play quarterback in a pinch.
“Chris Norman, in our opinion, was our best punter,” Reeves said, stiffly. “I don’t think the quarterback situation had anything to do with it. If we get down to three quarterbacks, we’re in trouble, anyway. But he does have the ability to at least execute our offense. He takes snaps and throws the ball in practice.”
Reeves also has an argument that with 45 or 49, everybody is equal.
“From a coach’s standpoint, if everybody’s got 45 I’m gonna be just as competitive as everybody else,” Reeves said. “But we lessened our product. The product you’re looking at on the field is better with 49.”
Ram Notes Dieter Brock becomes the fourth quarterback in five years to open the season for the Rams, and he will be their sixth starter in that span. Including his days at USC, Coach John Robinson has now had nine quarterbacks in 10 years. . . . The Broncos won the AFC West with a 13-3 record last season despite an offense that was ranked 22nd in the league and a defense that was 25th. The key was their turnover ratio of plus-21. . . . Today they’ll be without three members of that defense: outside linebacker Tom Jackson, cornerback Louis Wright and nickel back Randy Robbins. Also, end Barney Chavous will be limited with a knee injury, and running back Sammy Winder, their only Pro Bowl pick, missed most of exhibition season after an appendectomy. . . . The Rams can be expected to test Wright’s replacement, Steve Wilson, who will line up on the Rams’ best receiver, Henry Ellard. . . . On defense, the Rams may find quarterback John Elway to be less of a scrambling threat than usual. Elway jammed his left knee two weeks ago when he landed wrong after jumping in frustration over a bad pass. He missed the last exhibition game but Coach Dan Reeves said: “There’s a chance he could be almost fully recovered by game time.”