Robinson Hopes Rams Aren’t Blinded : Coach Likes the Action, but Not All Those Lights and Cameras
“Harry, can we plug in here?”
“Sure, feed the line into that outlet. Watch out for the newspaper guy’s feet.”
“What time do we air? Is the quarterback out of makeup yet?”
The media light has officially been switched on in Anaheim, where the Rams spent the Monday after their dramatic victory over the San Francisco 49ers primping and posing for future considerations.
One swing of Mike Lansford’s leg opened the gates for a publicity gusher that probably won’t tap out until the Rams do. Don’t we look pretty at 4-0?
ABC rolled in around 2 p.m. to set up a “Monday Night Football” hookup with quarterback Jim Everett, the National Football League’s top-rated passer. Sports Illustrated peeked its nose inside the door to see what all the fuss is about.
Well, it’s about the Rams, the new team on the block, and now the football world wants to clutch this team to its bosom. Did the Rams beat the 49ers or something?
Apparently so, which was good enough to start the blitz. It took a while for this year’s NFL favorite to get separated from the pack, but it looks as if the Rams have dislodged for now.
For how long? Who knows? What time is it?
Meanwhile, back at pessimist central, Coach John Robinson wants to know who passed out the party hats.
Twenty-five of his players were born after 1963. Isn’t it a little early for the networks?
Robinson tried to bring his team down to earth by feeding it the game film of Sunday’s game, which wasn’t all that awe-inspiring, he says. But technical stuff about blown assignments did nothing to stop the presses.
“It’s a major test for us,” he said of the coming weeks. “Can we handle 4-0 and some nice comments about us? Can we handle it. If not, we’ll slide back to 4-1 and then we’ll slop around like we’ve been doing.”
Robinson said he considered editing out his team’s 72-yard, eight-play, last-minute drive to victory, figuring that sterling sequence might not drive home his point.
“We’ll just go through it fast and say, ‘You don’t want to see that,’ ” he said of the film. “No, I don’t speak with forked tongue to my team. I do to (reporters) sometimes, but not them. I think everyone is really proud of what we did. I don’t think anybody’s not proud of it. I think the intangible parts of what what we do, we feel like we really enhanced our team in that area.”
Intangible here is turning a certain loss into a victory with a combination of guile and determination.
Guile doesn’t always film well, however.
“It’s those nuts and bolts and the physical things and what it is that shows on film that will be sobering for all of us,” Robinson said. “It sure is for me. Down deep, you want to believe that you’re really good now. You want to say, ‘Oh, boy, we’re really good now.’ Under the surface, you want to believe it. You know that’s not good for you and all that. But still you want to believe it. Then, you put that film on, and all of the sudden you say, ‘Oh my God!’ ”
You can readily file this one in the don’t-look-beyond-Atlanta cabinet, and Robinson concedes as much.
“You got to focus on something that makes you have anxiety about the next week,” he said. “Try to do something. But the old days of pretending we were lousy if we weren’t, you can’t do that.”
Robinson is actually prepping his team for its own little death march, which comes after Sunday’s home game against the Falcons. After that it’s at Buffalo, home for New Orleans, at Chicago, at Minnesota and home for the New York Giants.
If the cameras are still on after that stretch, well, then maybe the Rams have something. Getting into the pit of their schedule with a 5-0 record would be a coach’s wish come true. They just need Atlanta to cooperate, which hasn’t been a problem in recent years.
Robinson called this next stretch “the dangerous time ahead,” and apparently there’s no room on board for the faint of heart.
The Rams were encouraged by a hitch-up-your-belt defensive performance that kept the 49ers out of the end zone.
They were delighted that Jim Everett perhaps came of age right there in Joe Montana’s living room, of all places.
For now, lights shine bright in Anaheim. But is it the future that’s so hot or just the flashbulbs?
Ram Notes
Mike Lansford’s agent, Leigh Steinberg, attended Sunday’s game and talks continue about Lansford’s imminent renegotiation, although the Rams’ latest offer reportedly would make him only the league’s 12th-best-paid kicker. The Rams and Lansford agreed before the season not to let this season’s performance affect the negotiations, although a game-winning kick to beat the 49ers never hurts. . . . Flipper Anderson scored his first regular-season touchdown Sunday on a 65-yard scoring reception from Jim Everett. Anderson is averaging 30 yards a reception in his two-year career.
Ron Brown is still looking for his first catch of the season. . . . Despite 33 yards against the 49ers, Greg Bell continues to lead the National Football League in rushing with 450 yards, though his average dropped from 5.5 to 5.0 yards a carry. . . . Cleveland Gary made his Ram debut against San Francisco and carried twice for five yards. . . . Frank Stams’ thigh bruise is the only real injury concern this week. Left tackle Irv Pankey missed Sunday’s game with a lower back strain but is expected back for Atlanta.
Robert Cox filled in admirably in the offensive line, which didn’t allow the 49ers’ pass rush near Everett. . . . Linebacker Mark Jerue starts practicing in pads after his long rehabilitation from knee surgery. Coach John Robinson calls Jerue’s comeback from his injury last season a “miracle of miracles.” Jerue is eligible to return Oct. 22.
