Ram Notebook : Meisner Reports; Collins to Undergo Surgery

The Rams on Monday signed a nose tackle but lost a linebacker when holdout Greg Meisner reported to camp and Jim Collins left with a knee injury that will require arthroscopic surgery today.

Collins is expected to be out three weeks. Coach John Robinson said that doctors discovered a bone spur on Collins’ right knee, which has plagued him throughout camp.

Meisner signed a three-year deal and reported to camp Monday at Cal State Fullerton. He said he’s ready to play in Wednesday night’s game against the Denver Broncos at Anaheim Stadium.

“It’s all behind me now,” Meisner said. “Now I’m ready to play football.”

Meisner also said he had read and didn’t appreciate Robinson’s recent comments about the three defensive holdouts, to whom the coach referred to collectively as “not exactly the scourge of the league.”

Said Meisner: “It’s not exactly something you’d like to read about yourself. But I guess you’ve got to say what you’ve got to say to get a guy in. But that’s not what got me in.”

Meisner could be a factor in the Rams’ new Eagle defense, which features two down linemen and five linebackers.

“Meisner has a chance to play either of the two tackles,” Robinson said.

At nose guard, Meisner had a tendency to freelance more than his coaches liked.

“Our (old) defense was more for a stay-at-home nose guard,” Robinson said. “Meisner is powerful, but he liked to roam.”

Now, his liability might be an asset.

“In the Eagle defense we rely more on aggressiveness and coming off the ball,” Robinson said.

Meisner’s signing leaves four remaining Ram holdouts--guard Tom Newberry, tight end Greg Baty and defensive linemen Shawn Miller and Doug Reed.

According to sources, that number will soon be reduced to three as the team plans to release Baty, who spent last season on injured reserve.

Unhappy Cowboy: Tony Dorsett, traded from Dallas to the Denver Broncos in the off-season, took some shots at the way his former team handled his demotion last season.

“That was the only upsetting thing,” said Dorsett, who was replaced in the Dallas backfield by Herschel Walker. “They screwed me. It was like, forget the 12,000 yards you rushed for, forget the injuries, playing with broken bones, broken wrists, broken ribs. You name it, I had it . . .

“But no one had enough courage to say, ‘Hey Tony, you’ve done a lot, but we’re going to start H (Herschel) at tailback.’ That’s what I would have done.”

As if John Elway Needed to Get Any Bigger or Better Dept.: The Bronco quarterback spent his off-season in the weight room and reported to camp at 220 pounds, 10 pounds heavier than last year and almost 20 pounds more than he weighed when he entered the league in 1983.

The extra weight hasn’t slowed Elway down.

“I’ll tell you, he looks great,” said tailback Dorsett, the newest member of the Bronco backfield. “We had this scrimmage and he started going into his scrambling act, rolling to the right. I’m following him down the line and all of a sudden, the ball is in my lap. I was talking to some other players on the sideline and saying, ‘I didn’t even know he saw me.’ He looks like John Elway to me.”

Reeves said Monday that Elway would probably play between one quarter and one half against the Rams Wednesday night.

The Broncos list Andre Townsend ahead of Rulon Jones at right end, and Reeves says it isn’t a typographical error.

“We’ve got Andre working in front of him,” Reeves said Monday. “Rulon’s been slowed down by a knee injury. Also, one of our main goals is to improve our run defense and Andre’s playing the technique in the run game a little better than Rulon was.”

Ram Notes

The terms of Gaston Green’s contract are expected to be completed today, according to Green’s agent, Leigh Steinberg. “We’re coming around the bend,” Steinberg said Monday. Green, who signed a special one-year deal on July 20 just to get into camp, is expected to receive a four-year agreement worth $1.8 million in present value money. Green, recovered from a bruised left thigh, will make his Ram debut Wednesday night against the Broncos. . . . The Rams have released punter Bryan Myers. . . . Defensive end Gary Jeter (back) and tight end Pete Holohan (hamstring) will not play Wednesday. . . . More on Greg Meisner: The last time he held out, 1985, was the same year that former Ram Eric Dickerson staged his contract holdout. In other words, Meisner couldn’t buy a newspaper headline. “Last time, I was just a note,” he said. “It was always, ‘Greg Meisner is also in the 48th day of his holdout.’ ”