Robinson Likes What He Sees and the Prices He Paid

Comparison shopper that he is, Ram Coach John Robinson says he has received his fair share of bargains this season. Among the more nifty blue-light specials:

--Defensive backs Jerry Gray and Vince Newsome as replacement parts for the injured Gary Green and Eric Harris.

--Mark Jerue for injured linebacker Jim Collins.

--And for your double-coupon buy of the year, quarterback Jim Everett for guard Kent Hill and a fistful of No. 1 draft choices. Add to this another rookie, guard Tom Newberry, who has fit in quite nicely as a starter, and Robinson can be excused for Monday’s version of Great Expectations.

Have the 8-4 Rams, Robinson was asked, been worth the expense?

“I would have liked to have been first in our division, which it is,” he said. “I would have liked to have had the (San Francisco) 49ers 0 and 12, which they’re not.

“What I expected? Yeah, I think so.”

Robinson said he likes the Rams’ position after 12 games of posturing. Sure, he would have preferred watching New England Patriot Irving Fryar drop the last-second touchdown pass that beat the Rams two weeks ago, but it happens. More pleasant a view is the sight of the rookie Everett trotting to the Ram huddle each week. He represents “a long-term solution at quarterback,” Robinson said.

Against the New Orleans Saints Sunday, a game the Rams won, 26-13, Everett wasn’t much of a visible factor. He completed just 7 of 20 attempts for a grand total of 56 yards. Included in the statistics were two unsightly interceptions.

But unavailable on the stat sheets were Everett’s good points. For instance, the Saints rarely brought their safety close to the line of scrimmage, the better to stop the run. Instead, they were forced to respect the Ram passing game--real or imagined--because of Everett’s presence.

Two weeks ago in New Orleans, the Everett-less Rams often faced an eight-man defensive line. In turn, running back Eric Dickerson rushed for a season-low 57 yards. This time Dickerson finished with 116 yards and his first touchdown in five games.

And what of the continuing education of Everett? Problems galore, right?

“It’s almost like learning a new language, trying to learn all that stuff,” Robinson said.

But Everett is the polished pupil, Robinson said. Plays . . . media relations . . . perspective, Everett appears to have few problems with the onrush.

“I thought this would probably be the most difficult week for him,” Robinson said. “I think he probably had 30 or 40 different interviews, a number of events to do, (and was) constantly caught up in the euphoria resulting from his performance (against the Patriots). By the nature of what we’re trying to do, we’re trying to expand some things. It was a very complicated week for him. I thought he handled it very well. I thought he handled the adulation well. I thought he worked hard to get ready to play again. And I thought he handled the process of not playing, of not getting off to a good start, well. Two interceptions in your first two possessions were a little traumatic.”

In short, don’t expect to see Steve Dils soon.

Said Robinson: “When (Everett) started to come off (after one of his interceptions) I launched into one of my things about staying calm and all that and he kind of patted me on the head and said, ‘Don’t worry about it.’ I like that process how he handled that, the not-so-good performance.”

As for potential, Robinson ventures the following guess: that this season’s team could accomplish more than last season’s Rams, which means a possible visit to the Super Bowl.

“Last year’s team . . . we had a definite governor on it,” he said. “We were going to play it a certain way and play that hand all the way to the end, which put a limit on it. Maybe the downside (with Everett) is, we might make more errors.”

Then again, they might make more teams think twice about that long-lost Ram relic, the pass.

Ram Notes As expected, running back Mike Guman will miss the remainder of the season because of a torn medial collateral ligament suffered Sunday against the Saints. Surgery was performed Monday. “He played in a lot of different areas,” Robinson said. “We’re not sure just yet what we’ll do.” Robinson’s situation is made that much tougher by the absence of tight end Tony Hunter (injured reserve list). Hunter, who isn’t expected to return to the lineup until near the end of the regular season, and Guman shared similar duties. The remainder of the injury list includes Dennis Harrah (ribs) and Irv Pankey (knee).