Play of Ram Special Teams Isn’t Even Run of the Mill : Football: Once a source of pride, the unit is struggling and there appears to be no quick turnaround in sight.

Chuck Knox has spent about 300 Monday mornings watching game film, and most of the time he has been able to say his team won at least one facet of the game.

Over the years, his special teams have done just that.

“Special teams is an intense business, guys run full speed and make hits full speed and at the same time you have to remember your assignments,” said center Blair Bush, a 16-year veteran who also played for Knox in Seattle where the Seahawks’ special teams were among the NFL’s best.

“We had a great tradition in Seattle. It was an important part of our game and everyone knew it contributed a lot to our success. It was a source of pride. We just have to get that kind of tradition going down here.”

Tradition? How about respectability for starters?

The rebuilding of the Rams is beginning to look as if it will be a slow and painful process, and the special teams are stuck in the same morass as the offensive and defensive units.

Last year, the Rams’ punt and kickoff teams struggled. The Rams were last in the NFL in kickoff return average at 16.7 yards. Opponents averaged 20.5 yards per kickoff and only one team in the NFC--Tampa Bay--allowed more.

There doesn’t appear to be a quick turnaround in sight for this year, either.

During the preseason, the Rams returned 11 kickoffs for 174 yards, with a long of 25 yards. Opponents returned 13 kickoffs for 388 yards, including a 100-yard touchdown.

Against Green Bay in the season opener, the Packers returned three kickoffs for 70 yards and three punts for 42; the Rams averaged 11 yards in seven kickoff returns and returned one punt for one yard.

The only plus for the Rams’ coverage teams came when the Packers blacked out on a free kick after a safety, letting Don Bracken’s punt bounce around until Steve Israel fell on it and recovered for the Rams.

“After the game, I felt really bad,” said special teams coach Howard Tippett. “But I felt better after I looked at the tapes because I don’t think we’re that far off. I think it’s just a matter of getting some guys back from injuries and making a few corrections.”

Depending on who you talk to, there are a number of reasons for the Rams’ special team failures.

Injuries have played havoc with the lineups. Running back David Lang, the top kick returner, and linebacker Leon White, one of their best coverage players, are sidelined.

And the Rams went into the game against Green Bay expecting receiver Henry Ellard to return punts, but his ankle was bothering him during warm-ups, so No. 2 Darryl Henley was pressed into service. At least in theory. Henley injured his pectoral muscle before the Rams received a punt, so rookie free agent Richard Buchanan became the punt returner.

“Really, to be fair about special teams, you have to consider the whole picture,” Tippett said. “You can’t lump them all together. We were on the field 27 times for special teams against the Packers. Our field goal protection was good, our punt-protection team did a good job. You have to break it down and the areas where we need the work is our coverage area.”

Tippett says the coverage teams suffered Sunday because injuries forced some players--such as backup middle linebacker Thomas Homco--to play on defense and special teams.

“You’d like to have as many fresh guys as possible on those teams and, because of the injuries, we were sucking wind at the end of that game,” he said. “It’s just a case of when we get our people back, we’ll be OK.”

And the Rams’ turnstile approach to special teams’ play during the preseason didn’t help the cohesiveness of the coverage teams either.

“If you’ve been a playoff team for a while, then only a few people are going to make the team each year,” kicker Tony Zendejas said. “But Chuck’s rebuilding this team and there have been so many changes, it makes it harder to get the continuity you need.

“In training camp we played so many different people. Guys were here one week and gone the next. You’re looking at so many different people and you play them on special teams to get a look at them.

“I really think it’s just a matter of guys getting the repetitions they need in practice. I think it’s a problem we can solve pretty soon.”

Clearly, Knox and Co. are not standing pat. Linebacker Jeff Brady, a noted special-teams specialist with Pittsburgh and Green Bay, was claimed on waivers days before the opener to help shore up the Rams’ unit.

“I think the talent level is here, no question,” Brady said. “The guys just have to get together. We played hard, but there were some breakdowns. Mistakes killed us.”

And Brady insists there’s more to coverage-team play then speed, reckless disregard for personal well-being and enough brains to stay in your designated lane.

“You have to play as a team,” he said. “Probably the guy next to me is looking at me and wondering if I can play. At Green Bay, if they brought in a guy and stuck him in next to me, I would wonder, ‘If I force the play outside, is my buddy going to make the play?’ So, I have to go out there and earn their respect.”

Like most of his new teammates, Brady sees better days ahead for the Ram special-team players, though.

“You’ll see,” he says. “We’ll start making some plays and then everyone will sort of get on the bandwagon and we’ll really get the job done.

“That’s the way it usually goes.”

The Rams can only hope. They aren’t the kind of team that can make up for bad field position with an explosive offense or a dominating defense. And if their special teams continue to flounder, the “way it goes” will be down the drain.