Rams’ Injured List Lengthens in Loss
The Rams, who left eight injured players and four holdouts at home, might have left the rest of their season here Friday night in a football game that was painful to watch, if only in the interest of human compassion.
The Washington Redskins won, 37-10, before 54,371, but the Rams lost much more than an exhibition.
They lost three more starters and one key backup to injuries. Cornerback Jerry Gray and linebacker Larry Kelm will undergo similar arthroscopic surgery today at Centinela Hospital Medical Center to repair ligament damage to their left knees. Each is expected to miss four to six weeks.
Cornerback Alfred Jackson will be lost for an equivalent amount of time with a strained groin muscle. Starting right tackle Jackie Slater dislocated his toe on the first offensive series and will be lost for two weeks.
That brings to 17 the number of key players listed as either injured or a holdout with the season opener at Green Bay next week.
On defense, the two players the Rams could least afford to have collide and collapse, cornerbacks Gray and Jackson, collided and collapsed while crossing paths on a Redskins’ scoring pass in the second quarter. Gray, a four-time Pro Bowl selection, suffered knee damage on the play. Earlier, he had given the Rams their only lead of the night on a 62-yard interception return for touchdown in the first quarter. Gray had only recently moved back to corner to replace starter Darryl Henley, who aggravated a hip injury this week and is out indefinitely.
“Secondary was the strongest part of our team last Wednesday,” a shell-shocked defensive coordinator, Fritz Shurmur, said. “Then we lose Henley and two guys tonight.”
Jackson, the third corner and a key man in the team’s pass defense, suffered his groin injury when he rammed into Gray’s left knee while chasing tight end Terry Orr into the end zone after Orr’s 20-yard scoring reception from quarterback Mark Rypien with 8:33 left in the half.
Gray and Jackson remained on their backs for several minutes after the play concluded. Gray needed two trainers to escort him from the field. Jackson needed a stretcher.
“I had to ask the equipment man what happened,” Jackson said. “I don’t know what happened. I don’t know how Jerry tore ligaments. I feel bad because I’m at fault, I’m the one who ran into him. I saw the ball, and I was just going for it. The next thing I knew I was on the table being X-rayed.”
The injuries left the team with one experienced cornerback, veteran Bobby Humphery. Rookie Latin Berry, a converted fullback who had been considered a long-range prospect at corner, was thrown into the fire and would soon be seen lining up against Redskin star receiver, Ricky Sanders.
Visions of this combination--Humphery and Berry--lining up against San Francisco’s Jerry Rice and John Taylor should have temporarily quieted those who have mentioned Rams and the Super Bowl in the same breath.
For starters, the Rams have few.
“We played without any tackles, any receivers and almost no cornerbacks,” Ram Coach John Robinson said, who wouldn’t find out about Kelm’s knee injury until later in the locker room.
“At USC, I lost five centers in a week,” Robinson said. “This is certainly in that category.”
The implications of Friday’s setbacks are almost mind-boggling. For instance, can the Rams possibly open the season with Latin Berry starting at right corner?
“I’m not prepared to respond to that,” Robinson said.
And what about Monday’s roster decisions? Will the Rams put Gray on injured reserve or hold a spot for him on an already depleted roster just in case he can make it back sooner?
The Rams, remember, have a bye in Week 4 preceding an important game against Cincinnati at Anaheim Stadium.
“I’m not prepared to respond to that,” Robinson said.
If the Rams don’t sign linebacker Kevin Greene this week--his leverage just increased tenfold--they would start the season without their two best defenders.
And just how important is Gray to the secondary?
“Anytime you lose Jerry Gray in the secondary, it’s like losing Jim Everett on offense,” Jackson said.
Robinson, his face ashen, wasn’t ready to comprehend what has become of his team, considered by some the second-best in football. In their present condition, 22nd may be a more accurate appraisal.
“I can’t deal with that,” he said. “I have to deal with solutions. We’re looking for solutions, and we’ll find them and we’ll get our team back together.”
Shurmur, who opened the 1989 season without two starting inside linebackers and a starting cornerback, opens this one without three cornerbacks and an inside linebacker.
“We need a plan that will give us the best chance to win,” Shurmur said. “Right now, I don’t have a lot of answers.”
With starting tackles Slater and Irv Pankey (an injured back) out of Friday’s game, quarterback Jim Everett played in only two series on offense. Next week, though, he must stand and deliver through four quarters, tackles or no tackles.
“What we’re going to do is piece it back together and try to bring a team to Green Bay that’s capable of winning,” Everett said.
Easier said, of course, than done.
Ram Notes
Defensive end Gary Jeter, released this week New England, has worked out a financial agreement to return to the Rams. Jeter, 35, played six years with the Rams before signing with the Patriots as a Plan B free agent after the 1988 season. The deal is contingent on his passing a physical today. Before his release, Jeter had not played this summer because of hip and thigh injuries. The Rams are also concerned about a chronic back problem that has plagued Jeter the past few years. . . . The key negotiation affecting holdout linebacker Kevin Greene is done. New Orleans Saint linebacker Pat Swilling, a player of comparable talent to Greene, has signed a two-year contract reportedly worth about $1.7 million, which is only $100,000 more per year than the Rams are offering Greene. Is there a compromise in sight? Greene has been seeking a contact worth $1 million per season. . . . The following Rams did not make the trip because of injuries: receivers Henry Ellard, Aaron Cox and Flipper Anderson, each with hamstring injuries; linebackers Fred Strickland (hamstring) and Mel Owens (back), cornerback Darryl Henley (hip) and guard Joe Milinichik. Tailback Cleveland Gary missed all four exhibition games with a bad back. . . . Although tackle Jackie Slater is out of next week’s game, Robert Cox and Irv Pankey are expected to return from injuries. . . . Rookie Latin Berry returned kicks for the first time Friday night. . . . Inside linebacker Frank Stams was also injured, leaving the game with a slightly strained groin muscle.
