Two Faces of Everett Perplexing : Rams: Footwork might be a problem. Even former Charger Dan Fouts doesn’t have the definitive answer.

That weekly mini-series, The Bizarre Case of the Two Jim Everetts , offered yet another twist in the plot last Sunday when both Everetts showed up in the same episode.

So, in an effort to unravel this mystery, an expert has been called in.

Dan Fouts, a television commentator and former stand-up quarterback, watched both Everetts closely during the Rams’ 21-10 loss to the Lions. He saw one Everett step up in the pocket and drill strikes to his receivers. He saw the other stumble, stagger and toss up dying ducks.

“I don’t have an answer for you,” Fouts said. “It’s awfully puzzling.”

So much for the expert opinion.

Fouts does know this much, however: “The thing that I notice the most, and it’s something Jim has battled all his career, is his footwork. When his footwork is as it should be, he throws the ball as well as anybody. Where he gets in trouble is when his footwork breaks down, when he throws off his back foot or overextends. It’s real basic fundamental things.”

That’s pretty much old news. Everett watchers came to that conclusion early in the season.

They’ve seen plenty of the evil twin. He completed only six of 17 passes for 71 yards with an interception and no touchdowns at New Orleans. He was nine of 27 for 92 yards with an interception and no touchdowns at Atlanta.

But they’ve seen quite a bit of the good Everett, too. He connected on 19 of 25 passes with two touchdowns against the Chargers. He completed 26 of 37 for 329 yards and three touchdowns against Kansas City.

Then Sunday they saw both of them in the same game and there was no obvious explanation for the inconsistency. Detroit’s pass rush was virtually nonexistent, so it wasn’t simply a matter of Everett being pressured on some plays and well protected on others.

So how do those two guys change uniforms so quickly?

“You’re always being rushed and you always feel it, whether it’s there or not,” Fouts said. “Some days you feel more comfortable and confident in the pocket than others, but the thing that is so puzzling with Jim is that it goes from one play to the next.

“I remember one sequence in the fourth quarter where he stepped up in the pocket and threw some really beautiful passes. Then there were times when he would not step up and he’d throw off balance and the ball just wouldn’t go very good. And the pass protection was fantastic.

“Every quarterback is forced to throw under pressure and every quarterback has to improvise, but I think in Jim’s case, you’ll see those things happen when it doesn’t appear that he’s under much pressure. I wish I could tell you the absolute reason why. I don’t think anyone knows. I’m not even sure Jim knows.”

Everett maintains that his fundamentals and footwork are no worse then they were in 1989 and nobody ever questioned them then. That season, even when he threw the ball awkwardly off his back foot, Pete Holohan would come down with it for a key first down. Or Flipper Anderson would run underneath a lob and streak for a touchdown.

Indeed, lousy footwork was part of a 4,310-yard, 29-touchdown season in 1989. And the Rams were 11-5. But Fouts says bad habits might have caught up with Everett.

“The only thing that I can guess may be causing it is that early on in his development, whether it was in high school or in college or early on in his 15-year NFL career, he got away with it and it didn’t hurt him,” Fouts said. “Jim has a marvelously strong arm and sometimes that works against you. You tend to rely on it too much to get you out of trouble.”

Coach John Robinson believes the Rams have put too much emphasis on the passing game at times this season and Everett has felt the pressure to overcome the team’s weaknesses single-handedly.

“Are we asking Jim Everett to do too much right now? My view is that we are at times,” Robinson said. “And when you’re losing, these kinds of people get exposed. In a desperate try to make things happen, we just may be asking too much.”

In many cases, it appears as if Everett’s judgment is a bigger problem than his “happy feet.” Against the Lions, for instance, he threw a high floater in the general direction of Anderson. Detroit cornerback Ray Crockett looked like an infielder waiting for a pop-up before making the interception.

Robinson said Everett made an incorrect read, threw the ball too early, threw it poorly and is “a little embarrassed about that play.” But Fouts defended Everett’s choice, saying all quarterbacks throw the ball up for grabs, sometimes on purpose.

“One thing Jim is probably thinking there is, “Hey, I’ve thrown 1,000 balls up in the air to Flipper and he’s come down with 900 of them,”’ he said. “That goes through your mind. I had receivers like (Kellen) Winslow, (Wes) Chandler and John Jefferson, and I always felt that if they were single-covered, they would win that battle for the ball. It was my job to get it near them and most of the time it worked out.

“Now sometimes, if the ball is just a little bit underthrown, you really look like an idiot.”

Fouts, who played nine years under Ram offensive coordinator Ernie Zampese at San Diego, made it to the Pro Bowl six times during that period. He says Everett has the potential for similar success.

So what’s holding Everett back? Fouts says Robinson’s early-season plan to resurrect the power running game and the ensuing shake-up of the offensive line is one factor.

“The thing I’ve been able to find out from people, and Ernie is certainly one of them, is that one of the big things this year for Jim has been the change in the offensive line,” Fouts said. “That experiment didn’t work out, for any number of reasons, and so much of a quarterback’s success has to do with time to throw.”

The offensive line has offered maximum protection recently--Everett’s been sacked either just once or not at all in four of the last five games--so that doesn’t explain his latest troubles.

Everett has been known to react to a phantom rush on occasion. Robinson indicated that may have been the case on Sunday’s interception. Some are even wondering if the sixth-year pro has lost his nerve.

Fouts, a pure pocket passer who played behind some less-than-spectacular offensive lines in San Diego, took more than his share of big-time shots during 15 years in the NFL. He laughs and says, “if I ever did feel gun shy, I sure as hell wouldn’t tell you now.” He admits, however, that he did become tired of being a tackling dummy after a number of years and tended to get rid of the ball quicker near the end of his career.

“The pain is a great equalizer and it’s definitely something you have to deal with,” he said.

In the final analysis, though, Fouts can only offer possibilities and clues.

“I’m no psychiatrist,” he said. “I can’t define schizophrenia.”

Stay tuned. The mystery continues.