RAMS : Smith’s Injury Leaves Another Hole on Line
Brian Smith, who represents half of the Rams’ inside pass rush, will miss at least two weeks of practice because of strained ligament muscles in his left knee.
Coach John Robinson said Thursday he thinks Smith can return in time for the team’s final exhibition game against the Redskins in Washington on Aug. 31.
Smith, who had his knee examined Thursday by Dr. Clarence Shields, said he was told he would miss three to four weeks with the injury, suffered in Wednesday afternoon’s practice.
“I don’t think it will be that long,” Smith said. “It feels pretty good, it’s just sore. There’s not a lot of swelling in it. The biggest thing was hoping there was no damage. I can’t see three to four weeks, that’s a long time. But that’s what they said. I’ve never had an injury like this, so I don’t know.”
If Smith is out a month, he’ll miss the regular-season opener on Sept. 9 against the Packers in Green Bay. In fact, if the Rams started the season today, they’d be in serious trouble along the defensive line, an area of some concern at full force.
Outside linebacker Kevin Greene, the team’s top sacker, is still unsigned. So is starting left defensive end Doug Reed. Nose tackle Alvin Wright has been slowed by a thigh injury and won’t play in Saturday night’s Times Charity game against the San Diego Chargers at Anaheim Stadium.
Defensive end Bill Hawkins, Smith’s inside rushing partner on passing downs, still hasn’t fully recovered from knee surgery in December.
“I think the knee is probably close to being OK,” Robinson said of Hawkins. “But because he’s been held back by it, I think his physical condition scares us. That’s probably the biggest issue.”
Robinson said Smith’s knee injury will put him only slightly behind schedule.
“He’s had such a great camp that I don’t think it’s such a setback,” Robinson said. “He doesn’t play a position with a lot of intellectual things. It’s a setback, but not a tragedy by any means.”
Cliff Hicks, the one-time heir apparent to LeRoy Irvin’s cornerback spot, has been placed on the team’s physically unable to perform list while continuing rehabilitation on his right knee, which required major ligament surgery last December.
Hicks, a third-round draft choice from Oregon in 1987, stopped by training camp Thursday, although he admitted he felt a bit like an outsider.
“A lot has changed,” he said.
Hicks was being groomed for Irvin’s job until his injury. He started the first three games in 1989 while Irvin was serving a league-imposed suspension.
Hicks suffered a partially torn knee ligament in a Nov. 26 game against the New Orleans Saints in the Superdome. His mistake was attempting to play four weeks later in the season finale against the New England Patriots, when he suffered further damage.
“If I look back on it now, yeah, it was a mistake,” Hicks said. “But back then, I really didn’t know.”
Hicks said playing on the injured knee was his decision.
“It wasn’t like I was forced,” he said. “I just kept playing.”
Because of the severity of the injury, Hicks was left unprotected on Plan B, but no team claimed him. The Rams re-signed him and retain his rights should he be able to return.
The Rams raised questions as to whether Hicks would ever be able to play cornerback again, suggesting that his future might be at safety.
“Yeah, I heard talk about me being moved to safety,” Hicks said. “I don’t pay any attention to it.”
Hicks said his rehabilitation is going well and he expects to be back sometime this season.
With the Rams?
“I have no idea,” he said. “The main concern is getting back.”
Ram Notes
Will Cleveland Gary ever play in an exhibition? The second-year tailback missed all five of last year’s exhibitions because he didn’t sign with the team until September. A lower back strain kept him out of last week’s Berlin exhibition and will force him out of Saturday night’s game. “It’s not a setback if he can come back next week and take a big share of the game (against the Phoenix Cardinals),” Coach John Robinson said. “But if it lingers, then it is, because he needs game experience.”
George Bethune has been drawing rave reviews in holdout linebacker Kevin Greene’s absence. “George has had a great camp,” Robinson said. “George, clearly, will be a good player in this league. Potentially, he could be very good.”
The Rams have nicknamed their impressive free-agent wide receiver Derrick Faison, “Big Bird.” Faison is 6-4 and 200 pounds. . . . There’s a good chance the team’s top three receivers won’t play a down Saturday night. Henry Ellard, Flipper Anderson and Aaron Cox are all nursing injuries.
