RAMS : Minicamp’s Doors Open Amid Changes, Rumors and Concerns

Fritz Shurmur was just a memory, Kevin Greene and Jim Everett had prior commitments, but about 50 other players showed up Monday at Rams Park as the team began its first two-week minicamp since its crash-and-burn, 5-11 disaster of 1990.

Shurmur was fired in the off-season and replaced by defensive coordinator Jeff Fisher, who was given a mandate to start all over again. And a host of familiar faces--from kicker Mike Lansford to tight end Pete Holohan and defensive end Doug Reed--either left courtesy Plan B or have been told they are not wanted back.

Almost everybody else is holding on to his job tenuously, at best. Welcome to the Rams of 1991.

“I have a lot of friends that are gone,” said veteran cornerback Jerry Gray, who is trying to come back from a mediocre season. “Doug Reed, he isn’t back. Vince Newsome, I was here with him for six years. . . . “

Hand-in-hand with all those personnel changes, more so than in any Ram off-season in years, the team heads into Sunday’s NFL Draft and the ensuing months with several burning issues:

What happens to the Rams’ top draft pick if--as an NFL source said Monday is now almost a certainty--likely No. 1 choice receiver/kick returner Raghib (Rocket) Ismail spurns the NFL and the New England Patriots and signs a reported $6 million deal with Bruce McNall’s Toronto Argonauts?

The Rams have the No. 5 pick in a draft that, according to the consensus, is five blue-chip players deep--Ismail (Notre Dame), cornerback Todd Lyght (Notre Dame), offensive tackle Antone Davis (Tennessee), defensive tackle Russell Maryland (Miami, Fla.) and linebacker Mike Croel (Nebraska).

The Rams say they’d be happy with any of the five, but Lyght and Davis probably head the list. The 330-pound Davis has apparently so won Robinson’s heart that the Rams would be willing to bypass defensive help if Davis is available.

Without the Rocket, that makes it four blue-chip players and guess which team is left sitting on the outside?

“That would mess everything up, definitely,” said a Rams source after hearing of the Rocket rumor. “I didn’t want to hear that.”

If Ismail does go north, the Rams are suddenly at the top of the second plateau of players, probably led by Louisville defensive tackle Ted Washington, who is well over 300 pounds but who scouts say lacks the intensity of Maryland.

Will the Rams trade their pick for an established defensive player?

Although there were informal talks awhile back, the Rams and Eagles now say publicly and privately that unhappy Eagle defensive tackle Jerome Brown will not be traded for a package including the Rams’ No. 1 choice.

“No way,” said Eagle player personnel director Joe Woolley. “Why in the world would we do that? Jerome’s a Pro Bowl player, and just because Jeff (Fisher) wants him, that doesn’t mean we’re going to trade him. You don’t trade good players.”

Other possibilities are disgruntled Detroit defensive tackle Jerry Ball and unsigned Steeler cornerback Rod Woodson, but Ball probably isn’t worth the No. 5 pick and Woodson is worth considerably more.

Can Gray get back into Pro Bowl form?

Gray, who tore a ligament in his knee in the final exhibition game last year and never fully recovered, participated in drills Monday for the first time under Fisher’s supervision and said he felt right on schedule.

Without a healthy Gray anchoring the secondary, Fisher’s man-to-man coverage scheme is severely short of pure cover men.

“I think everything’s on the upswing for me,” Gray said. “And I think the scheme is going to help me. You have to be really ready to go because if you’re not, you’re going to be out there by yourself, man-to-man, and believe me you’re going to be exposed and they’re going to find out. I like the challenge.”

Another complication for Gray is that he is unsigned and seeking a multiyear deal that reflects his being named to the Pro Bowl four out of the past five seasons. Problem is, he didn’t make it to Hawaii last year, and the Rams aren’t sure he’s a Pro Bowl player any more.

“I think the ball is in their court for them to kind of come up and say, ‘Hey, we trust Jerry’s going to be back and this is what he deserves,’ ” Gray said. “And if they don’t think I deserve that, then probably they don’t think I need to be around here, either.”

How will all the recent and future lineup changes affect the team?

Although the Rams have retained the rights to Reed by offering him a qualifying offer, they do not expect him to accept it and, according to several sources, do not want him back with the team.

Reed’s departure would leave a hole at left defensive end, with as many as five players, including Plan B signees Karl Wilson and Gerald Robinson, competing for the job.

In a more subtle move, Robinson has decided to move left guard Tom Newberry to starting center, put last year’s No. 1 choice Bern Brostek at left guard and move 34-year-old center Doug Smith to the bench.

“It’s a good move for me,” said Newberry, who has been working out with and snapping for the University of Miami quarterbacks the past few months near his Coral Gables home. “I guess if I had to pick a position that was best for me, center would be it because of my height (6 feet 2) and the things I do.”

Ram Notes

The Rams on Monday signed veteran wide receiver Stacey Bailey. Bailey, 31, was released last week after being left unprotected by the Falcons in Plan B. . . . The Rams open their exhibition schedule Aug. 3 in Jacksonville, Fla., against the Atlanta Falcons, play host to the San Diego Chargers on Aug. 12 and the Seattle Seahawks Aug. 17 (both games at 7 p.m.), then finish off against the Houston Oilers in Memphis.