RAM NOTEBOOK : Everett, Anderson Sparkle in Scrimmage

For a brief time Saturday, the once-unstoppable combination of Jim Everett-to-Flipper Anderson suddenly was unstoppable again, scoring points, lighting up the offense.

An unhurried Everett dropped back with no immediate fear of getting obliterated by a Charger defensive lineman, skied the ball far down the right sideline, and Anderson ran past his defender and under the ball for a 49-yard touchdown in the Rams’ 14-14 scrimmage Saturday afternoon at the UC San Diego campus.

Everett and Anderson followed that with two more strikes, bringing Anderson’s total to three catches for 94 yards. The only thing that stopped it from being higher was the end of the first-team’s participation in the scrimmage.

This is the way it used to be for the Rams, back before things went rotten offensively. And though this was just another scrimmage in August, it was an echo loud enough to stir good memories with the Rams.

“There’s no doubt,” Everett said after the scrimmage Saturday, “that Flipper and I are starting to hook up pretty good right now.”

However, there also was no doubt that the Rams missed key cylinders on defense and missed key blocks on running plays--signs that there is still a great deal of work for this Rams’ team to do.

The Everett-to-Anderson show was a sparkler, but Coach Chuck Knox seemed far more intent on correcting what went wrong than on admiring their performance.

The Rams came to the UC San Diego campus without the services of their top three cornerbacks--Todd Lyght and Darryl Henley are out with hamstring problems and No. 2 pick Steve Israel is still unsigned--and had only three healthy cornerbacks to use.

So it wasn’t a major shock when Charger quarterback John Friesz completed touchdown passes of 52 and 33 yards to unheralded receiver Robert Clairborne against the first-line Ram defense.

Then, after giving up the two scores to the Charger first-team offense, the Ram second-line defense blanked the Chargers’ backups, with Gerald Robinson impressively registering three sacks around the Charger left tackles.

“I thought they did a good job,” Knox said. “Think it was about an even-steven type of thing. When you consider that we’re playing without two starting corners . . . “

Knox and Everett were happy with the pass protection, which gave Everett, backup Mike Pagel and T.J. Rubley consistent time to throw.

Knox, however, was not pleased with the Rams’ running game, which produced only 78 yards in 22 attempts, an average of 3.4 yards a carry.

The Rams’ first-team backfield combined for five yards in five carries--Cleveland Gary had five yards in two carries, Robert Delpino had zero in three.

In the goal-line drill against the Charger defense, the Rams put the ball in the end zone only once in five tries--Delpino’s one-yard leap over the pile.

“It’s just like everything else, you’ve got to block somebody,” Knox said, “and we’ve got to sustain some blocks.

“I’m still concerned about the whole thing, to be honest with you. But we took a step in the right direction out here today. It was a scrimmage, true, but we hit, and that’s what you’ve got to do if you’re going to win football games.”

There were a few surprises in the way the Ram coaches used some of the players. Linebacker Paul Butcher, for instance, who was believed to be a key special teams player but not a candidate for a starting spot, played the entire 20-play series at right linebacker with the first-line defense.

Roman Phifer and Glenell Sanders saw most of the action with the backup units.

Also, if the scrimmage was any indication, 10th-round pick Tim Lester appears to be climbing quickly up the fullback depth chart. He teamed with Derek Loville on the second-team offensive unit, caught one pass for 15 yards and rushed twice for 10 yards.

“Lester looked good,” Knox said. “He’s been looking good--an excellent blocker, and he ran well, ran tough.”

Lester appears to have nudged past second-year player Ernie Thompson as the main backup at fullback, with Robert Delpino seeing most of the time on the first team.

Robinson was the most impressive Ram player on defense, registering three sacks and generally manhandling the Charger backup left tackles.

Robinson, whose three sacks last season tied Kevin Greene for the team lead, played right end on the second-team defensive unit and regularly beat rookie Charger tackle Darryl Jenkins.

Right now, the right end spot appears to be wide open among several candidates--Robinson, Jim Skow, current first-teamer Bill Hawkins and others.

Did Robinson make a statement Saturday with his three sacks?

“That’s the statement right there,” Knox said. “That’s what you’ve got to do when it’s third and nine or 10.”

Hawkins and Skow also registered sacks. In all, a Ram defense that trailed the league with only 17 sacks last season, had five Saturday.

Ram Notes

A.J. Jenkins, a rookie free-agent from Cal State Fullerton, saw a lot of action as an outside rusher on passing downs with the first team. . . . As he did in the earlier rookie scrimmage against San Diego, No. 1 pick Sean Gilbert played only half of the 20-play first-team series on defense. . . . Jim Everett finished the day six of 12 for 149 yards, including the Flipper Anderson touchdown and one interception. Backup Mike Pagel completed four of 11 passes for 61 yards. Rookie T.J. Rubley threw a 26-yard touchdown to rookie Todd Kinchen and was two of three for 44 yards. . . . Derek Loville led the Rams with 27 yards in five carries. . . . The Charger running attack had some success against the Ram defense, compiling 103 yards in 18 attempts--an average of 6.7-yards per carry.

Bruised Rams who attended but did not participate in the scrimmage included starting cornerbacks Darryl Henley and Todd Lyght, receiver Henry Ellard, defensive lineman Mike Piel, running back Marcus Dupree, linebacker Frank Stams and tight end Damone Johnson. . . . The hit of the day came early, when Charger safety Stanley Richard pounded receiver Aaron Cox just as the ball was arriving, then grabbed the ball for an interception. . . . The Rams have today off and resume two-a-day practices Monday. They leave for Seattle Wednesday and play the Seahawks in the exhibition opener Thursday night at the Kingdome.