Cox Reinjures Hamstring; He May Be Out Six Weeks

Receiver Aaron Cox had a bad feeling before Friday’s practice, and after running just three routes, he was feeling lousy. By Saturday morning bad had turned to worse.

Cox, who injured his right hamstring during training camp last year and lost his starting job to Flipper Anderson, pulled the hamstring again Friday. Saturday morning, he discoveredthe injury was more serious than first diagnosed. He could be out as long as six weeks, according to Coach John Robinson.

“My legs were feeling kind of stiff before the practice, so I did some extra stretching,” Cox said. “But I told Flipper to say a prayer for me, anyway.”

Cox admits he could use a bit of divine intervention to snap his string of misfortune, but he remains the Rams’ top candidate for a Good-Attitude-in-the-Face-of-Bad-Luck Award. He said last season’s travails left him better equipped to deal with this disappointment.

“Last year, I didn’t want to accept it, but this time I handled it better,” Cox said. “I went back in (the locker room) and got my stuff together and, after a few minutes, I was all right with it.

“You have to put something like this into perspective. I guess I’ve had some hard luck, but there are a lot of people out there with worse problems than a pulled hamstring. Even if I never played another down in football, I’ve been blessed.

“Things happen for a reason and I’m real positive that everything will work out for the better.”

Henry Ellard, who is also sidelined, said his sprained left ankle is rapidly improving and he expects to be ready to begin practicing Monday.

“I worked real hard in the off-season, and to be knocked out the first day of camp with an ankle is a little frustrating,” he said. “They don’t have football here (at UC Irvine) and the field really isn’t in football shape. It’s kind of bumpy and there are slick spots and dry spots. I hit a wet spot and then my foot slid until it hit a dry spot, then it stuck and I sort of went over it.”

Ellard said the ankle injury is nothing compared to the hamstring injuries that all receivers fear this time of year.

“We’re like sprinters, stopping and darting around,” he said. “About the third day of camp, you start to get sore and stiff, and it’s really important to stay warm and loose.

“I feel for Aaron. He’s sure fighting some kind of string of bad luck. And he’s the nicest guy in the world too. He never even complains.”

Robinson believes in going full speed in the early days of training camp and admits that the legs of the receivers, running backs and defensive backs sometimes suffer as a result.

He doesn’t plan on changing the Rams’ regimen, however.

“We like to go very hard, very early to establish a pace for camp,” he said. “For me, there’s no alternative but to go through a very tough, physical period.”

Ram Notes

Nose tackle Alvin Wright’s quadriceps strain also has turned out to be more serious than the Rams first believed. He was originally scheduled to return to action Monday, but now will miss “at least a week,” Coach John Robinson said . . . Latin Berry, the Rams’ third-round draft pick from Oregon, has elicited some rave reviews from Robinson on his transition from fullback to cornerback. But Berry is having a little trouble getting excited about his progress. “I’m a little disappointed,” he said. “This is a lot harder than I thought it would be. I’ve got a long way to go.” . . . Talk of re-alignment in the NFL brought this observation from Robinson: “I’d like to see the Chargers, Rams, Raiders, 49ers and Seattle in the same division.” Get the feeling he doesn’t like cross-country air travel? . . . Robinson said Cox’s injury could be a fortunate break for some other Ram receiver. “It means more (repetitions) for the other guys, more opportunities for someone to jump forward,” he said. “This is how careers get started.” . . . A German radio reporter, who said he wanted a moment of Robinson’s time for a couple of quick questions, started the interview off with this one: “So what exactly does a head coach do?”