Rams : Line Thins Out a Little More When Love Injures His Knee
The Rams ran out of left tackles Saturday when Duval Love, the starter in place of holdout Irv Pankey, suffered ligament damage in his right knee during morning practice.
He is expected to miss at least a month.
Love, in his third year out of UCLA, was admitted to Centinela Hospital Medical Center in Inglewood Saturday night and will be examined further by Dr. Clarence Shields before a decision is made on what type of surgery is necessary.
If Love needs only an arthroscope procedure, he could be back before the season opener. If the ligament tear is more severe, he’d be out much longer.
In the meantime, the Rams are without their first- and second-team left tackles, all important because the position protects the quarterback’s back or blind side in passing situations.
Pankey, of course, remains embroiled in a contract dispute that has shown no signs of being resolved soon.
So will the Rams now step up the negotiating process with Pankey?
“There has been an urgency all along,” Ram Coach John Robinson said of signing Pankey “To me, it was urgent after the first day (of his holdout). I have no other information on his status.”
In the meantime, Robert Cox became the new starter at tackle, with Mike Schad, converted to guard this season, moving back to tackle in a reserve role.
Ram Notes
The Rams released free-agent linebacker Cliff Hannemann Saturday to allow him to pursue a career in the Canadian Football League. The team may be close to signing linebacker Rick DeBernardo, most recently of the St Louis Cardinals. He will be looked at as a long snapper. Linebacker John El-Masry, who refused to leave camp Friday after being cut, reluctantly signed his release Saturday and left the Fullerton complex as expected. However, his lawyer plans to file a grievance with the National Football League Players Assn., claiming the Rams cut El-Masry while he was injured, prohibited under Article 9 of the Collective Bargaining Agreement. The Rams contend El-Masry’s ankle sprain was not serious. “But he did suffer an injury,” El-Masry’s attorney, Jack Mula, said Saturday. “How serious it was is of no concern.”
