Kelm’s Return Gives Defense Needed Lift : Rams: After being sidelined all season with torn ligaments in his foot, he’s back inside to help strengthen the team’s linebacking corps.

This Larry Kelm must be really good.

The Rams’ inside middle linebacker, sidelined all season with a foot injury, returned to the lineup and the defense climbed eight notches in the league rankings while the team ended a four-game losing streak with a pair of routs.

“He’s a superstar,” linebacker Mel Owens said, smiling.

So maybe Owens was being a little coy, but Kelm is indeed a key player in the Rams’ grand scheme. Hardly a star attraction, but important nonetheless.

If the Giants’ Lawrence Taylor is sidelined, you can bet opponents and their fans will view the upcoming game with an increased sense of well-being. Kelm’s absence was only noticed by a few offensive coordinators, some offensive linemen and maybe a few running backs.

But when inside linebacker Fred Strickland sprained his ankle against the Buffalo Bills and missed the next three games, the Rams were forced to substitute with two linebackers--Owens and rookie Frank Stams--who had virtually no experience at the inside position.

After eight seasons of facing tight ends as an outside linebacker, Owens found himself fending off the blocks of guards who outweighed him by 60 pounds.

Owens certainly feels better about his place in the puzzle now. “The pieces fit together much better now,” he said.

This is Kelm’s first season as a starter, after serving a two-year apprenticeship under 13-year veteran Carl Ekern, who retired after last season. Kelm’s hardly an old hand, but he was learning fast. And the Rams were counting on him.

“I can remember making the statement at the start of the year, like I was jinxing myself, that’s the place we can’t afford to lose anybody,” Coach John Robinson said. “We didn’t have any backups. Not only did we lose the two starters, but we were inadequate in depth.”

Kelm was out of action before the season opener, having injured his foot in an exhibition game against Phoenix. In two weeks, he was walking normally, but the extent of the damage--it turned out to be torn ligaments--was a mystery then. All Kelm knew was that he couldn’t push off the foot to run.

A couple of months later, he returned after what has to be one of the longest “day-to-day” injuries on record.

“Kelm had one of those injuries, ‘Well, maybe he’ll be back next week,’ ” Robinson said. “We kept pretending he’d be back. The residual effect is that it left us off-center in relation to our scheme and what we wanted to do.”

Fritz Shurmur, Ram defensive coordinator, bemoaned the loss of leadership and Kelm’s ability as a signal caller. The Rams were frustrated, but no one more than Kelm.

“It was really disappointing,” he said. “This was supposed to be my year. The position was mine to lose. And I played well in preseason. I can’t say enough about how bad it was to sit and watch for 10-11 weeks.

“The frustrating thing was that they couldn’t really tell how serious it was when it happened. You’ve got the trainer telling you that it will be three, four weeks max. When it finally did start coming around, it was six or seven weeks.”

Kelm was walking into meetings and then walking away while his teammates practiced. Then he read in the newspaper that he was out with a “bruised toe.”

“It was tough,” he said. “I know sometimes coaches aren’t too specific about injuries, but it’s like people say, ‘You’re walking around, why can’t you be out there running around?’

“Nobody wanted me out there more than me.”

Now he’s back and--for the time being, anyway--all’s well with the Rams’ defense. Kelm isn’t about to take any credit, though.

“It makes me feel needed, I guess,” he said. “But a lot of it has to do with the losing streak and guys just making up their minds that, ‘Hey, we played good, but we didn’t make the plays to win the game.’

“All of it combined has this defense headed in the right direction.”

At least a few more Rams are playing in their comfort zones. Owens has returned to the outside and Kelm is back in the middle of things, doing what he does best.

“A guy like Lawrence Taylor exists in speed and distance and space,” Robinson said. “An inside linebacker is more confined. Larry Kelm is like (recently retired Giants’ linebacker) Harry Carson, a guy who performs in a small area.”

Life as an inside linebacker has its complications, but it really comes down to two things: reading and riding. That’s reading the opponents’ plays and riding off a block to make the tackle.

“Getting reads comes from preparation and knowing what to look for,” Kelm said. “Getting off blocks is the physical part of it. That’s what I’m working on every day, because the linemen aren’t getting any smaller, that’s for sure.”

Ekern is on hand as a volunteer assistant coach and is helping his protege learn to handle the big, and even bigger, boys.

“Carl sticking around has really helped me,” Kelm said. “He can fine-tune me. Preparation, knowing a lot about offenses, those are my strong points. That’s why I thought this would be my year.”

Ram Notes

Michael Stewart got his first NFL interception and scored his first touchdown Sunday when he picked off a pass and returned it 41 yards to give the Rams a 7-0 lead over Phoenix. Coach John Robinson said it has taken a while for Stewart to temper his instincts to play the run, but the third-year strong safety is becoming an all-around player. “It’s been a long time getting him to say, ‘Sometimes they pass,’ “Robinson said. “His instincts are so aggressive. Early, we played him in that environment, which limited him. Now, you can give him the deep middle and he’ll stay there. Those guys make the best safeties, though, the hunger to hit somebody and just enough caution.”

By the time the Rams had run 14 offensive plays Sunday, they had a 21-0 lead. “We didn’t have the ball much early and I was getting (mad). We got it and we scored,” Robinson said. “Ideally, you would like to start the game off with a long drive that produces points and schedule the interception return (for a touchdown) sometime in the third quarter.” . . . Getting Defensive: The Rams have held opponents to 32% (17 of 53) on third-down conversions over the past four games. In the past two games, opponents have averaged just 41 yards rushing.