Bears Taming Ditka With Ferocity on Field : Pro football: The Rams’ next opponent has a 4-1 record, the NFL’s No. 1 running attack and a noticeably calmer head coach on the sideline.

Like fine music, a good young football team with the inclination to blast opponents to pieces can soothe the savage beast. Or at least a beast such as Mike Ditka, who comes as close to sideline savagery as the NFL allows these days.

The volatile Bear coach suffered a heart attack two seasons ago, then suffered more last year when his young team collapsed to a 6-10 record. Ditka publicly thrashed his team all season, ranted and raved incessantly, but never could roust them into shape.

Now, heading into Sunday night’s game against the Rams, the Bears are 4-1, blessed with a nice mix of established and emerging stars and the league’s No. 1 running attack, and Ditka is sounding a lot more mellow.

“I really haven’t talked about this much, but I think last year was a strange year for a lot of reasons,” Ditka said during a conference call Wednesday.

“I didn’t feel good either physically or mentally last year because of (heart) medication I was on, and I feel a lot better right now, and I feel good about this team. I respect their effort.

“All I ask is that we try, we play hard, and if we’re good enough, fine. If we’re not, we’re not. We’re not going to lose any sleep over it, it’s not the end of the world. We’ve got to do this for about 16 weeks before you can find out if you’re good enough to get into the playoffs, anyway.”

Last year, the Bears bolted to a 4-0 start, then fell apart over the last 12 games, going 2-10.

This year, Ditka seems to understand that younger players such as cornerback Donnell Woolford, defensive end Trace Armstrong and quarterback Jim Harbaugh did not respond well to the weekly chastising. Now Ditka wants to banish the season from the team’s collective memory.

“One thing this team has is it has no awareness of last year,” Ditka said. “None, except that they want to dispel the fact that we didn’t have a good season. Last season is something we don’t talk about, we don’t ever relate to in any way.”

Ditka has been noticeably calmer on the sideline this season, a departure from recent years when his fits and furies were as much a part of Bear games as the on-field play.

He used to yank quarterbacks in and out of the game depending on his most recent eruption, but this season, he has pretty much stayed with Harbaugh.

“I don’t know that you ever change, you are who you are, and maybe when you don’t show things as much, people say you changed,” Ditka said. “Things still bother me, yet they don’t bother me as much as they used to.”

With the trading deadline fast approaching and defensive players at a premium, Ram Coach John Robinson said he doubts his team can make a deal for the pass rusher they obviously could use.

“I don’t think we’re going to make any trades, we would not disrupt ourselves at this point,” Robinson said. “The solutions to our problems defensively . . . we’ve got to come up with the solutions ourselves.

“We offered a sixth (round pick) for Reggie White,” Robinson said with mock seriousness, “and (the Eagles) wouldn’t do it. For (Giant linebacker Lawrence) Taylor, we offered a four.

“No one wants to trade a good player, and nobody really wants to trade a good defensive player, particularly a good defensive lineman.”

It did catch Robinson’s interest when he heard that the San Francisco 49ers, needing a running back now that Roger Craig is out with a knee injury, are reportedly making offers for Raider running back Marcus Allen.

Allen is one of Robinson’s favorite players and the Ram coach certainly would not like to see Allen dressed in red and gold for the next three or four seasons. Robinson has expressed interest in acquiring Allen, but the Raiders’ asking price is undoubtedly too high for the Rams.

“Well, it’s none of my business,” Robinson said after a pause when asked about the 49ers’ interest in Allen. “I don’t have any comment on it. As the President says, ‘I can’t comment on speculation.’ ” But when Robinson was asked if Allen seems to fit the 49ers’ offensive scheme, he just nodded his head and quietly said, “I think so, yes.”

Injury report: Wide receiver Aaron Cox, whose troublesome hamstring put him on the deactivated list last Sunday, practiced Wednesday and should be able to play Sunday. Defensive tackle Alvin Wright was kept out of practice with a sore knee, but Robinson said he doubted it would be a problem.

Inside linebacker Larry Kelm, who has been on injured reserve from the beginning of the regular season because of a knee injury, began practicing with the team Wednesday and possibly could be activated this week.

The Bears, meanwhile, are still unsure about Harbaugh, who sustained a cracked rib in Sunday’s victory over the Green Bay Packers and left the game.