RAM NOTEBOOK : Wife’s Labor Pains Sideline Stokes

Fred Stokes hoped it could wait for the bye week. But it couldn’t.

Stokes, the Rams’ starting right end, received permission from Coach Chuck Knox to miss Sunday’s game against San Francisco to be with his wife, Regina, who had gone into labor.

Stokes left San Francisco at 7 a.m. Sunday to be with his wife, who had been in labor since 3 a.m. He returned to Candlestick Park with two minutes left in the game after paying $3,300 of his own money to charter a plane to get back to San Francisco.

“We knew she could have it at any time,” Stokes said. “Who would expect her to have it on a Sunday? She had all week to have it, and all next week.”

Stokes’ situation follows on the heels of a stern but unpopular move by the Houston Oilers, who docked offensive lineman David Williams a week’s pay (around $125,000) for missing a game Oct. 17 to be with his wife for the birth of their child.

Stokes said he wouldn’t mind if he was docked part of his salary, too.

“I would expect them to do the same thing as what they did in Houston,” Stokes said. “It wouldn’t bother me at all. We get paid to do a job, and I wasn’t out there today. I let the team down. I feel bad that I wasn’t able to help them, but at the same time I was taking care of my family.”

John Shaw, Rams’ executive vice president, said he was unsure of the details concerning Stokes’ situation, but added that the club might decide to pay him despite his absence.

“I assume that if the coach thought it was a situation that he (Stokes) should leave for, we would pay him,” Shaw said. “But I don’t want to make a statement without knowing all the facts.”

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Second-Guessed: “NFL Today” announcer Terry Bradshaw criticized Knox’s decision to bench starter Jim Everett in favor of backup T.J. Rubley.

Bradshaw, who has four Super Bowl rings from his days as the Pittsburgh Steelers’ quarterback, commented: “Everett had been up and down all season, but he always plays well against the 49ers.”

Sunday, we didn’t get a chance to find out.

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More Rubley: Another take on Rubley’s debut as a starter:

--Jerome Bettis: “We were completely confident in him, and we were all comfortable with him, particularly as the game progressed.”

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Streak Continues: With six receptions, Jerry Rice has now caught at least one pass in 118 consecutive games. The league record is 177, held by Steve Largent.