It Might Be End of Line for Slater : Pro football: Ram veteran is expected to be put on injured reserve today. His season will be over, and perhaps his career as well.

Tackle Jackie Slater, who has been in more games than any other offensive lineman in NFL history, might have already played his last for the Rams.

The Rams have decided to put Slater, who has been bothered by a torn shoulder muscle, on injured reserve and are expected to announce it today.

Coach Chuck Knox met with Slater on Friday morning at Rams Park and was expected to talk with him later in the day on the team’s flight to New Orleans for Sunday’s game against the Saints.

The Rams are expected to promote wide receiver Richard Buchanan from the practice squad today and put Slater’s name on injured reserve. Buchanan’s promotion became necessary after wide receiver Sean LaChapelle injured his wrist in practice while pounding the turf in frustration.

The move will end Slater’s 1993 season, and there are no assurances the 18-year veteran will choose to play again or be invited to return next season.

Slater, who will earn $1.1 million this season, becomes a free agent at the end of the year. Given the upcoming restrictions of the salary cap, it’s unlikely the Rams will be willing to pay him that much in 1994.

“There are a number of variables to consider, and there are things like the salary cap that are totally out of my control,” Slater, 39, said. “I will make my decision, but that’s only half of it. They will have to make their decision, too.

“I know this; this will be the second time in my whole career that I have gone on injured reserve, and it’s not a pleasant thing. But I’m the most likely guy to go on injured reserve, and I understand that.

“I just have never envisioned my career ending with me sitting around and doing a lot of watching. But it could be that it is going to end that way.”

Slater suffered a torn pectoral muscle against Detroit on Oct. 24th, sat out the next three games and then tried to play Nov. 28th in order to set the NFL record for most games played by an offensive lineman in front of friends and family in Anaheim Stadium.

The game was stopped after the Rams’ first offensive play, and Slater was handed the ball and received a standing ovation for having played in his 246th game. A few minutes later, he was forced to pull himself from the game after experiencing pain in the injured area.

“This could be it, and it’s a very difficult thing to deal with,” Slater said. “But that’s part of the game. One of the things I’ve always said, that if in fact I had a career-ending injury, I wanted it to be something that happened when I was going 100%.”

This week, tests revealed a more serious tear to his pectoral muscle than was first thought.

“I still feel good about doing what I did,” Slater said. “I have a great deal of appreciation for the way I have been treated here, and I have a great deal of appreciation for the way my family has supported me here. Although I probably set myself back, I know a lot of people enjoyed being there for the record.”

Slater said he will evaluate his health, willingness to dedicate himself to off-season conditioning and effectiveness as a player after the season, and then will decide whether to attempt to play a 19th season.

“At this point in time, I’m just going to accentuate the positive,” Slater said. “I’m going to look at the fact (that) when I did play and when I was healthy, in my opinion, nobody was doing it any better. That’s going to carry a lot of weight in what I decide.”