RAM NOTEBOOK / MIKE REILLEY : Lang Says He Can Do His Job If Called Upon
Although Tim Lester’s blocking skills have earned him most of the playing time at fullback, David Lang says he isn’t a forgotten man in the Rams’ offense since returning from a knee injury suffered in training camp.
Lang missed eight games recovering from the knee injury. In his return, against Atlanta, he gained 28 yards on a left sweep.
But since then, he has carried the ball only seven times for zero yards and caught two passes for 23 yards in the last five games.
“I was always in the game plan,” Lang said. “But it’s just a matter of whether they call my plays or not. I’m just working hard and hopefully I’ll get them called in the games. All I want to do is win.”
Lang becomes a restricted free agent at the end of the season. Does he want to stay with the Rams?
“If everything works out, I would,” he said. “I don’t know what they (team officials) are thinking. You just have to work hard--27 other teams are watching.”
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The way they were: Strong safety Michael Stewart was on the team in 1989, when the Rams went 13-6 and reached the NFC championship game.
Jim Everett had emerged as one of the league’s premier quarterbacks and wide receiver Flipper Anderson was a big-play threat every time he took off downfield.
Four seasons later, the Rams are 4-10, Everett has become a sideline spectator and Anderson has caught only one pass in the last three games.
So whatever happened to the Rams, the team of the ‘90s?
“We’re still going to be the team of the ‘90s, no doubt,” Stewart said. “The thing is, and we’re not trying to use it as an excuse, but when you have injuries like we’ve had, it tends to throw a monkey wrench into the overall plan.”
Stewart, a seven-year pro, is one of 20 Rams who will become restricted or unrestricted free agents at the end of the season. Should the Rams test the free-agent market or retain the players they have now?
“With the chemistry we have here now, we can only get better,” Stewart said. “I don’t think we need to make a lot of changes. The guys who are here can get the job done.
“In the NFL, there are always clubs that have done well and then drop into some down years. The thing is, you don’t want it to linger on for five, six, eight years and everyone will say, “Aw, that’s a team that will be at the bottom of the barrel.’ ”
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Big-play threat: Nobody needs to warn the Rams how dangerous the Browns’ Eric Metcalf can be.
Metcalf leads the NFL with 1,818 combined yards and a 13.1-yard average on punt returns. He has touched the ball at least 15 times in nine games this season, and returned punts 91 and 72 yards for touchdowns against Pittsburgh this season.
“He’s as dangerous a guy as you’re going to face,” Ram Coach Chuck Knox said. “They play him everywhere. They line him up in the backfield, a wide receiver, punt and kickoff return guy. You give him a little bit of daylight and he’ll go all the way.”
Said Stewart: “He’s one of those guys where it’s third and 10 and they’ll dump it off to him and let him make a play. He’s the type of guy who can make you miss and pick up that 10 yards no problem.”
Ram Notes
Rookie tailback Jerome Bettis, the NFL rushing leader with 1,227 yards is bidding to become the first Ram to rush for more than 100 yards in five consecutive games since Greg Bell did so in 1987. But Bettis might find the going a little tough against the Browns’ defense, which is ranked 12th in the league in rushing yards allowed per game (101.7) and sixth in yards allowed per rush (3.6). . . . Cleveland quarterback Vinny Testaverde, who missed five weeks with a shoulder separation, on the Browns’ six losses in their last seven games: “People talk about how we’re not going to be in the playoffs this year. We started out pretty good (5-2) but we kind of had our downs in there. The last few weeks, with me coming back from my shoulder injury and having (running backs coach) Steve Crosby call the plays, we’ve found ourselves as an offense and have put some better numbers on the board compared to the beginning of the year.”