Greene: David Playing in Land of Goliaths : Rams: At 250 pounds, he was a linebacker and sack specialist. Now, he’s an undersized defensive end in a new scheme.

Kevin Greene, as always a man of fervently felt, loudly expressed emotions, was fervent and loud when confronted with his proposed move from linebacker to defensive end a few months ago.

Greene blitzed past the subtleties and jumped to the heart of the matter.

“I thought, ‘Aww, man, I’m a defensive end? ‘ “ Greene said, grinning at the recollection.

In the early stages of the switch, nobody--not Greene, not the new defensive staff--was sure that he could be the same disruptive force as an undersized defensive end.

But the Rams kept him there, mostly because there was no other place to put him.

His old, blitzing-linebacker position no longer exists, now that Fritz Shurmur’s 3-4 alignment is history, and it would be a reach to ask Greene to assume the pass-coverage responsibilities linebackers have in the new scheme.

So Greene had to be a defensive end in Jeff Fisher’s new 4-3 alignment. Only now when Greene talks about the switch, he does it in a happy ramble, not a hollow roar.

“Now I look back and say I didn’t know all the parameters then,” Greene said. “I didn’t know everything it entailed. I’m comfortable with it now. I can play that position.”

It took him some time, and he still is not quite warmed by the thought of lining up his 250 pounds--on his heaviest day--against 300-pound left tackles and sacrificing his body for the good of a linebacker’s tackle total.

But Greene, who racked up 46 sacks and a goodly share of glory the past three seasons, has recognized that Fisher does not intend to lock him into the role of a stereotypical defensive end.

Greene lines up standing, like a linebacker at end. He at times drops into coverage, but he believes he still should get plenty of chances to drop quarterbacks.

“Coach Fisher knows that I’m an outside linebacker, and he knows the transition I’m going through playing defensive end,” Greene said.

“You know, I’m not saying that I’ve got this thing down pat, but I’m saying that I’m not struggling with it. It’s a challenge and teams may block me differently, but I think that I am going to be productive wherever I’m at.”

With much more emphasis on creating a team pass rush, Greene is no longer being asked to do it all by himself. He says, though, that there will be more sack opportunities for everybody on the line.

“I’m a defensive end now, so be it,” Greene said. “I don’t see me slacking off on the sacks or tackles at all.”

Instead, Greene has become the most obvious and vocal lieutenant for a defensive staff determined to light a fire under its players. In practice, Greene yelps and screams at his teammates, playfully taunts the offense and generally causes as much chaos as one man can--a marked departure from last year’s serious, quiet workouts.

Emotion is part and parcel of the new defense, which is something Greene has no problem expressing.

“We’ve done a 180-degree turn from a read, bend-but-don’t-break-type zone defense now to a blitzing, pin-your-ears-back, slick-your-hair-back, come-with-the-heat-type defense,” Greene said.

“And it’s just a total turnaround adjustment. It means everything to this defensive team. I’m trying to get that motivation going, and it’s a snowball effect. If you get one guy fired up, you get two guys fired up, a couple of other guys fired up and it just spreads like wildfire.”

Ram defensive line coach John Teerlinck said that when the staff slotted Greene at defensive end, there was concern about his ability to match up with offensive linemen.

“We knew he could rush the passer, but there was obviously a concern about, ‘Can he stand in there on a 300-pounder and slug it out?’ ” Teerlinck said. “And so far what we’ve seen, he’s had the ability to do that better than you would think from a guy his size.”

But it’s all qualified by size. Defensive ends in a 4-3 usually weigh 270 or more, and in an aggressive scheme usually closer to 300. With Greene, the Rams will swing safeties and linebackers his way to keep offenses from pummeling him.

“I’m 250 pounds; I like to think that I have a deceptive strength,” Greene said. “When I rush against people, they see a 250-pound linebacker. But I think I hit them with a lot of power with my legs and chest and shoulders. I hit them with a lot of deceptive strength at one time, maybe throws them off.

“But I’m not a defensive end. I think anybody can look at me and see I’m not a Reggie White. I’m just Kevin Greene. I’m 6-3, 250, and just doing my thing and having fun.”

Greene knows that offenses probably will draw up game plans designed to drive him backward so they can shoot running backs through the hole.

“I’m sure that’ll happen, but I’m going to have some help,” Greene said. “I’m going to have a linebacker coming up, another one right behind me. They know they can’t leave me to get pounded all day.

“I mean, you put a 250-pound guy in front of a 310-pound guy, the laws of physics tell you something’s wrong here, no matter how strong and quick I am.”