Green Will Not Run Ball Before His Time : Rams: Robinson has aged him on the sidelines, but his time may have come because of fumbles by Cleveland Gary.

John Robinson, noted connoisseur of fine running backs, made sure that Gaston Green aged slowly before trusting him with anything so important as carrying the football for the Rams.

The Ram coach has gently brought Green out of the cellar now and then during the past three seasons, gotten a taste, then sent him back to age, choosing to sample others.

This went on so long, the connoisseur just about forgot that his 1988 vintage tailback was still there. And Green didn’t know what to think, except: What about me?

In Green’s rookie year, Robinson had Greg Bell and concerns about Green’s ability to break tackles, as well as his readiness to play in the NFL. Last year, Robinson drafted Cleveland Gary, and he never had any doubts about Gary’s readiness or tackle-breaking ability.

This year, Robinson added another tailback, veteran Curt Warner (since waived), then eventually handed the dominant tailback role to Gary, which were two more signs that Green’s time had not yet arrived--if it ever would.

“I (messed) him (up) a little bit,” Robinson conceded Wednesday. “He wasn’t going to get a lot of work until I thought he was ready to play. And then when I thought he was ready to play, I played somebody else. Well, he couldn’t get on the field.”

In his first two seasons as a Ram, Green carried a total of 61 times for 190 yards and played in 16 games combined . It took until about midway through this season for Robinson to feel comfortable with the idea of working Green into the game plan with any sort of consistency--a conviction that coincided neatly with Gary’s recent outbreak of fumble-itis.

Green was the team’s leading rusher last Sunday against the Cleveland Browns, carrying the ball 13 times for 57 yards after Gary fumbled in the first quarter, and Robinson promises more action. Gary is still the starter. Gary is still the tough runner Robinson admires, but finesse runner Green is in the picture now.

This season, Green already has carried 44 times for 194 yards, including a 31-yard burst that is the Rams’ second-longest of the season. He also has caught a 16-yard touchdown pass and returned a kickoff 99 yards for a score.

“I am very enthusiastic about what Gaston Green has done,” Robinson said. “Last year, I didn’t have any doubts that he could play; I just didn’t let him get in there and play, and the other guy (Bell) had a good season.

“But now I’m playing him, saying ‘hey, you’ve got to play. You’ve done everything you can do to deserve the right to play.’

“And he’s a good man. That guy’s had some hard times here and has kept contributing, hasn’t gone in the tank.”

Not that Green never felt lost in the shuffle.

“You know, this is my third year here, and I hadn’t really gotten the chance--I hadn’t really played at all--so I was wondering when am I going to get a chance to play?” Green said.

The hardest part, Green said, was sitting while the Rams lost earlier this season. Sitting, and wondering if the coaches would ever remember his number and ever think to call it.

“My first two years we were winning, so that kind of made it easier,” Green said.

Although Robinson is careful not to say it in so many words, his main problem with Green is that he is a speedster who doesn’t shed tackles very well. At UCLA, Green could simply run past people. Not in the NFL.

Robinson said there are three things a runner can do: Slam through a hole for the tough four-yard gains, slide through and probably get tackled early for no gain, or explode through the hole and keep on going. Gary does the first, Green the second and the great runners the third.

“The people that judge backs on breakaways don’t have the knowledge to judge backs,” Robinson said. “The four- to eight-yard runs, the ones that are well defended, are what establish a runner. . . . The number of 10-yard runs, that doesn’t matter. I don’t think it has any bearing on whether you’re a really good back or not.

“I am very much prejudiced toward (four- to eight-yard runners). . . . I like these guys. Those are my guys.”

So why play Green now?

“He runs harder,” Robinson said. “That’s never going to be his forte. But he runs harder now than he did.”

Green, in his own quiet way, said he could be a tough, tackle-breaking runner if the Rams would play him consistently. How can you break tackles from the sideline?

“I feel like when I get into a game, if I just carry the ball one time, maybe I won’t do so good,” Green said. “But if (I can) carry the ball a lot over the course of the game, then I’d start feeling like that.”

“I feel, if I can get into the game and get to carry the ball enough, I’d be able to do things like that.”