RAMS : Lesser Role Displeases Delpino
Robert Delpino’s three-year sentence in Ram running back limbo before this season has sensitized him to any loss of playing time, so he knew what to feel when he heard that Marcus Dupree would be getting the bulk of the carries the rest of this lost season.
Delpino, who has been the Rams’ major offensive weapon all year when nobody else seemed prepared to carry the load, let everybody know Wednesday that he was disturbed by the move to Dupree--even though the Rams are emphasizing that they are only doing it to see what Dupree can do, not as a slight to Delpino.
“You do all you can every day, every year, and it still doesn’t seem to be enough,” said Delpino, who is still considered the Rams’ starting tailback but will mostly be used in the passing game from now on.
“I always seem to be in this situation throughout my whole career with the Rams, being in the dark. Hopefully, someday, somebody will tell me what I need to accomplish, what I really have to do to be a strong mainstay of this team’s foundation.”
Delpino has rushed 182 times this season for 579 yards and nine touchdowns, and caught 47 passes for 572 yards and one touchdown. His 1,151 total yards from scrimmage trails only Detroit’s Barry Sanders and Dallas’ Emmitt Smith among NFC players this season.
But Dupree is the kind of muscle-bound, 240-pound back Robinson likes to see crashing through the line of scrimmage, and the Rams dearly want to see what Dupree can do with a number of carries. Delpino, at 215 pounds, has always been viewed as a pass-catcher more than a power-runner.
Dupree carried the ball 11 times for 23 yards in Monday night’s 33-10 loss to the San Francisco 49ers, with Delpino carrying just six times for three yards.
Delpino says he always knew his hold on the job of main tailback was tenuous.
“It was one of those things I always kept in the back of my mind to be prepared for it,” Delpino said.
“In my eyes, I felt I did everything I was asked to do this season. It never seems to be enough.
“I’m sure Coach Robinson is trying to evaluate Marcus the rest of the season. It was a decision Coach Robinson made and I’ve got to live with it.”
Robinson went to great pains Wednesday to say that playing Dupree more in no way reflects a sour feeling toward Delpino. But Delpino, stung by the temporary loss of something he waited three years to get, felt differently.
“All I know is how I see it, doing everything they expected me to do, everything they asked me to do, the hard work, the dedication, the hours, the nights with the films, the mental part and the physical part. . . . “ Delpino said.
“I have to look at it from that perspective. . . . It’s still sinking in.”
So is Robinson bothered by Delpino’s grumblings?
“I’m not defending my position nor am I in any way disturbed that he’s upset,” Robinson said. “I’m proud of the kind of person he is and the kind of thing he has, and he can be upset at me all he wants.”
The long-awaited decision to move Tom Newberry back to center, Bern Brostek back into the lineup at left guard, and 35-year-old Doug Smith out of the lineup--probably for good--finally arrived Wednesday and will be implemented Sunday against the Washington Redskins.
The Rams started the season with Newberry at center and Brostek at left guard, but that had to be scrapped when Brostek went down with a right ankle injury Sept. 22. Smith stepped back in at center with Newberry moving back to left guard, the position he played for five seasons prior to this one.
“What we’ve got to do is get Bern Brostek playing,” Robinson said. “And we’ve got to get Tom (Newberry) coming out of the year saying, ‘Yeah, I’m the center.’ ”
The Rams have run best this season with the 300-pound Brostek in the lineup, and are hoping the same punch comes back to their running game with him in Sunday. The Rams have always thought that Newberry was more natural as a center than as a guard, and liked his 295-pound frame over Smith’s 272 pounds.
“Doug’s been doing fine,” Robinson said, adding that Smith could see time the rest of the way in shot-gun formations or obvious pass-blocking downs. “It’s not in any way a comment on Doug as much as a comment on where we are and what we need to do for the future.”
Said offensive line coach Hudson Houck: “Barring any more injuries, this is what we want to do. This is our direction. We’ve got to get Bern playing, got to get him in there with Tom at the center spot.”
Said Newberry: “It’s good to be back at center. Right now, it’s where I’ll be next year, anyway, so I’ll get a head start on it for the rest of this season. I’m glad I’m there.
“I like center. I had fun learning the position this fall. I just thought I was starting to play decent at it when I moved back to guard.