Curtain Goes Up for Rams’ New Defense : Football: Zone coverage is gone. Quarterback Long is scheduled to play three quarters against Falcons.

Even given the wide variety of wild and whimsical things that can happen in an exhibition opener, this one promises to be more unusual than the rest.

Kevin Greene playing defensive end? The Rams actually acting angry when opposing wide receivers approach? Marcus Dupree getting equal billing with Cleveland Gary?

And not even the Rams can say for sure how things will go when they unveil their new attacking defensive style against the NFC Western Division-rival Atlanta Falcons at the Gator Bowl.

The Rams will play the Falcons twice during the regular season. This one, a rare exhibition involving division opponents, is sure to be the most confusing.

The Rams have had months to sit and talk and prepare for their four dress rehearsals before the first scheduled performance Sept. 1, but sitting and talking and preparing almost never get it fully right.

The real kinks have to be ironed out on the field. For new defensive coordinator Jeff Fisher, it is the first chance to see his players stand or fall with the new system.

Fisher has changed every aspect of Fritz Shurmur’s 3-4 soft-zone style, importing the Philadelphia Eagles’ complicated brand of defense by devastation.

Greene was a linebacker on the left side, now he is mainly a defensive end on the right side.

Jerry Gray was a cornerback who specialized at dropping back into zone coverage, then racing up to meet the ball when it arrived in his area. Now, he is merely another older player attempting to recover from knee surgery in a defense that requires its cornerbacks to chase receivers all over the field.

The defense was used to sitting back and doing the same things over and over on each play. Now Fisher has them rotating and faking and blitzing based on quick calls and instant reactions moments before the snap.

Will all this change result in an orderly and successful exhibition for the Rams?

“Yeah, there’s some curiosity,” Greene said.

“The players want to see how it all works out, and I want to see how they pull it off. We’d like to see people hustling to the ball, swarming the ball, (causing) turnovers--three turnovers this week would be great. They need to play with emotion.

“If we come out of this game saying we played hard, we played with emotion and were enthusiastic, then we’re on the right track.”

The traffic cop in the Fisher defense is the middle linebacker, which happens to be the Rams’ most competitive position. Larry Kelm, Frank Stams and Glenell Sanders will get equal shots trying to keep things under control tonight. If they can.

“Sometimes I feel like I’m on top of it. Other times you wonder where you’ve been for the last two weeks,” Stams said. “I was just saying to Larry that it’s a position that you’ve got to keep fresh in your mind, I mean, (relative to) making the calls and knowing the defense, because there’s so many things.”

For all the Rams’ concentration on trying to manufacture a dangerous pass rush out of last year’s mediocrity, Fisher said attacking the Falcons’ run-and-shoot pass scheme is not a priority, adding that tonight’s lesson would be more basic: Stop the run.

“I’d like to see us be consistent against the running game,” Fisher said. “We’ve got to be physical, be able to stop the run and the passing game out of the two-back offense.

“My worst nightmare is if we can’t stop the run on first and second downs.”

Since the Ram defense is still a work-in-progress, Fisher said it will be nearly impossible for it to prepare to stop the run-and-shoot offensive style. When the Falcons go to that four-wideout set and start sending receivers flying all over the field, Fisher won’t mind if his defense gives up some yards. He simply wants to see them compete.

“The run-and-shoot offense is going to create some problems for us given the newness of our system and the basics that go in,” Fisher said.

“But we’ll be able to evaluate our people from a competitive standpoint and who steps up and who steps back in the two-back offense throughout the game.

“There’s some curiosity from a blitz standpoint. I think (the defense) would prefer blitzing every down right now. They’re acquiring that kind of mentality, which is good, but we can’t exist that way. We’ve got to do a little bit of both.

“I’m interested to see how the linebackers respond, (especially) the middle linebacker position, (and) see how the young guys play--the draft choices on the defensive line. We’ll see how Jerry (Gray) plays and whether or not he’s on track from the rehab and everything else. It’ll be a good test.”

Offensively, the Rams aren’t in the midst of a major transformation, but there, too, some compelling questions will get their first, tentative answers tonight.

At quarterback, Chuck Long, who threw five passes last season and never got a chance to prove the Rams right or wrong for trading a high draft choice to acquire him, should get that chance tonight.

With starter Jim Everett not in the game plan, Long is scheduled to start and play the first three quarters, Mike Pagel the fourth.

Otherwise, the first half should showcase Gary and Dupree, who are competing for the starting tailback job.