PRO FOOTBALL DAILY REPORT : RAMS : Terrell ‘Sickened’ by Loss of Friend

Ram safety Pat Terrell was still trying to sort out why it happened. A day after Alm apparently killed himself, Terrell was still trying to understand why his former Notre Dame teammate would do such a thing.

“This is hard for me to say,” Terrell said. “But when you lose a friend in an accident, it puts things in perspective. But when you lose a friend the way I lost Jeff, it’s a different feeling. More of a frustrating feeling. You feel sickened by the loss.

“I know he was bummed about his friend. But why did he do that? There were so many unanswered questions. There was so much help he could have gotten. So much support. So you’re mad at him, but you’re sorry because of the loss.”

Terrell and Alm joined the Fighting Irish as freshmen in 1986.

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Coach Chuck Knox said the cold temperatures forecast for Sunday’s game at Cincinnati “won’t be a disconcerting factor” for the Rams. Cold weather often means poor passing conditions, so will rookie tailback Jerome Bettis, who gained 212 yards in 28 carries last Sunday against New Orleans, get even more work against the Bengals?

“Anytime you play in bad weather, you need someone who can pound the ball,” Knox said. “But we have to get our passing game together. We’re not sitting here saying we can be one-dimensional and win football games. You have to do both.”