PRO FOOTBALL / WEEK 1 : There Will Be No Easing Into This Season : Rams: The Cardinals, who might be formidable even without the injured Rosenbach, will test new L.A. defense.

Sweet circumstance and bitter remembrances of the season past are sure to mingle in minds of the Rams today, when they open the season against the Phoenix Cardinals at Anaheim Stadium.

There to greet them on a field he knows too well will be Phoenix defensive coordinator Fritz Shurmur, the man who coached the Rams’ defense for eight seasons before being fired last January, at least partly blamed for the Rams’ 5-11 season.

Jeff Fisher, Shurmur’s replacement, having junked all of Shurmur’s soft-zone schemes for an attacking defense, got a break last week when Timm Rosenbach, Phoenix’s talented starting quarterback, suffered a knee injury and was sidelined for the season. That moved erstwhile punter Tom Tupa, who threw six interceptions against Fisher’s Philadelphia Eagles in a game two years ago, into the starting role.

But beyond the old-defensive-boss vs. new-defensive-boss intrigue, the Rams are beginning what they hope is the start of their trip back.

“We’ve had to live with 5-11 for too long,” quarterback Jim Everett said. “We want to start redeeming.

“I think this team is almost to the point of edgy. I wouldn’t want to be the guy that came and got one of these guys angry, because I think that they would jump you. . . . I feel that everyone’s just edgy and just anxious to get out and play.”

In the exhibition season, the Rams looked uneasy--experimenting and often misfiring on their way to a 1-3 record.

The defense, keyed by a quick, aggressive secondary, was solid, but was untested by the kind of power running the Cardinals will surely throw at them. The offense, determined to rush with power and consistency, then work the passing game in later, did none of that and struggled all summer.

Phoenix went through the practice season unbeaten, ending it with a 34-10 victory over the Denver Broncos. Shurmur’s 3-4, soft-zone held offenses to a 13.8% third-down conversion rate in a league where 33% is considered successful.

“We’re nervous,” Coach John Robinson said.

“We recognize Phoenix is playing well and could be a good team. We recognize we’ve got a lot of unanswered questions that we’re just as curious (about) as anybody else.”

Phoenix, with a new two-back system that puts Johnny Johnson and Anthony Thompson in the game at the same time, has a huge offensive line that has the physical edge on the Rams’ four-man front. But Fisher is counting on some pent-up emotion and run support from safeties Michael Stewart and Pat Terrell to make up for the poundage.

“I don’t think it makes a difference on who we open with, the opening game’s going to be an emotional game,” Fisher said.

“(Today) is going to be a test. I’m sure they’re going to want to show Fritz that they’re playing hard in a different scheme.”

A backup quarterback, Green Bay’s Anthony Dilweg, threw for a career-best game in last year’s Ram opener and began the downward spiral that cost Shurmur his job.

Although he wasn’t around for the Dilweg debacle, Fisher won’t say that because his Eagle defense dominated Tupa two years ago, the same will happen this time. Tupa is older, wiser, better and playing in an offense that protects him, Fisher says.

“He’s not making those mistakes that he made two years ago,” Fisher said.

“I don’t see much of a drop-off from Rosenbach to Tupa, in how he fits in their offense.”

Robinson said: “I think they’re more like a team like the Giants that can recover from (their No. 1 quarterback going down) than perhaps some teams can. They’ll be a good team this year.”

On offense, the Rams still haven’t fully adjusted to all of their offensive line shifting--there are four new starters--and starting tailback Cleveland Gary missed a lot of work because of hamstring problems.

Everett, too, was uneven in exhibitions. He completed fewer than half of his passes, threw three interceptions and had a quarterback rating of 55.9.

“We’ve hit the match a few times, but it’s not burning yet,” Everett said.

“We hope to be smelling the fumes of the engine warming up soon.”

And today, they will play against Shurmur, a man who knows their offense. Shurmur has turned outside linebackers Ken Harvey and Freddie Joe Nunn loose, and they held opponents to an average of 60.5 yards rushing in exhibitions.

“It’ll be both sides trying to do something just a little bit different,” said Ernie Zampese, Ram offensive coordinator.

“Just a tiny bit different. But you don’t change everything just because somebody knows you. You do what you do well.

“He’s not going to change, and we’re not going to change.”

Ram Notes

Phoenix Coach Joe Bugel said the team refused to get rattled when it lost starting quarterback Timm Rosenbach to a knee injury and is ready to move on with Tom Tupa doing the same things it did with Rosenbach. “We have to go full speed ahead,” Bugel said. “I think if you try to water things down, I think that’s when your team starts to panic, and I think that’s when you really drop off. Just because there’s a change of the guard, we’re going to keep everything running smoothly and keep all the game plans we’ve worked hard on.”

The Ram defensive players all are will be wearing sunglasses like those of new defensive coordinator Jeff Fisher during their morning walk-through workout. “Kevin Greene and Jerry Gray came through,” said free safety Pat Terrell, giving credit to the two players who apparently came up with the cash for the glasses. “It’s about our new outlook on defense.”

When asked his reaction to 49er quarterback Joe Montana being sidelined for at least a month, Coach John Robinson had a mixed reaction--relief at not having to face him in Week 4, and fondness for the kind of football Montana has always played. “When it’s all over and I’m 78 years old and saying, ‘Oh, do you remember?’ I’ll remember him,” Robinson said. “With affection and awe. I’m not writing his epitaph or anything, unfortunately.”

Cardinal tailback Johnny Johnson has been listed as questionable this week, but Bugel said he should be “100%” by today. . . . Ram linebacker Roman Phifer has been bothered by a hip pointer that will probably keep him out of the starting lineup, but not out of the Rams nickel defense.