Gilbert Just Fine in NFL Debut : Rams: Rookie doesn’t dominate, but he gets plenty of Packers’ attention and plays hard in his first game.

The Rams and Sean Gilbert caught a glimpse of their future Saturday night. No one was celebrating as if they had won the lottery, but at least they didn’t run screaming into the night.

Less than a half in an exhibition game might not serve as the clearest of crystal balls, but Gilbert was impressive if unspectacular during his limited NFL debut against the Packers. Gilbert, the Rams’ first-round draft pick, hasn’t quite earned his $3.2-million signing bonus--the up-front part of a five-year, $7.5-million deal--but he certainly justified his presence on the payroll as well as Coach Chuck Knox’s contention that he is “the first step in the rebuilding of this Rams football team.”

Gilbert, a 6-foot-4, 305-pound rookie defensive tackle, discovered that while he might not be able to waltz into an opponent’s backfield and rack up sacks at will, he probably isn’t going to manhandled out of the league, either.

“It felt good to get in there and run around a little bit, get a little piece of the pie,” he said. “There were some butterflies, and I was nervous, but it was exciting.

“It was sort of like being revived, to finally get into a game after just sitting and watching the first two, but I still have to concentrate on getting better every day in practice.”

Gilbert, who missed almost three weeks after injuring his left ankle during a scrimmage with the San Diego Chargers on Aug. 1, said the ankle felt pretty good but noted that it began to get sore as the game wore on.

“It started to get a little stiff in the second quarter,” he said, “but I think it will be OK. We’ll just have to ice it down, see how it is (Sunday) and take it day by day.

“I just don’t think it’s quite strong enough, so it made me kind of, you know, uneasy.”

Gilbert, who played only 17 games and started just 11 in his college career at Pitt, had yet to make a play as a pro, but the Packers weren’t playing him as if was just another rookie. He drew a double-team block on nearly every passing down but managed to hold his ground most of the time.

If Gilbert doesn’t get a sack all season, the Rams could claim a minor victory simply if he draws that much attention all the time.

“You have to work with what you get and make the best of it,” Gilbert said. “If they double, they double. You just have to deal with it.”

On the last play of the first quarter, he dealt with it. On a third-and-eight play near midfield, Don Majkowski dropped back to pass and then decided to scramble up the middle. Gilbert fought off a double-team block, forcing the Packer quarterback to change his direction three times before Darryl Henley came up to stop him short of the first down.

Gilbert also showed the kind of hustle that has elicited rave reviews from the Ram staff during training camp, repeatedly chasing after ballcarriers who ran the other way or receivers who caught short passes over the middle.

He had two tackles, both times wrapping up former Ram running back Greg Bell, once after a three-yard run and again on a one-yarder.

Knox didn’t have a lot to say about his star rookie’s performance without the advantage of seeing the game films, but he did note that Gilbert “chased down some ballcarriers.”

Said Gilbert: “That’s just instinct. It’s just a matter of wanting to make the tackle and hoping the guy stays up until you get there.

“I don’t grade my performances, though. That’s for the coaches to do. They’ll be telling me all about it Monday whether I want to know or not.”

Gilbert, who is just as determined to shed the pressures of others’ expectations as he is those double-team blocks, refuses to consider himself the key to the Rams’ reach for respectability.

Forget what the head coach said the day they drafted him. Forget the size of the contract and the speed with which the usually cautious Ram front office got the deal done.

“There’s no outside pressure,” he said, smiling. “The pressure comes from the people who apply it, and I apply it to myself. I don’t put myself in any kind of danger. I just have to go out and play the best I can every game and work to eliminate the mistakes the next week. You can’t try to rush it.

“There are 10 other guys out there on the field with me who have to play the game, too. We have to do it together. I’m just one piece of the puzzle.”

A very large piece, however. And the Rams hope that Saturday night was an indication that Gilbert is going to fit in just fine and fill a big hole in the middle.