Quarterback Guessing Season Begins for Rams : Football: Will Everett return? Will Rubley be the one to lead the team? Nothing is certain.

With a 5-11 record and their draft position in limbo, the Rams’ season officially ended Sunday with a brief game of quarterback role reversal--Jim Everett scrambling and T.J. Rubley sitting.

Not on the field, but in the locker room.

Rubley, the starter, sat at his locker and answered questions after the Rams’ 20-6 victory over Chicago, while his backup, Everett, hurriedly packed his bags nearby and left Anaheim Stadium, perhaps for the last time in his career.

In an exclusive post-game interview with The Times, did Everett have anything to say?

“No,” he said, “not today.”

Everett used those words to sum up the day, the season and perhaps even the past eight years with the Rams.

He was demoted six games ago in favor of Rubley, a ninth-round draft pick from Tulsa in 1992. The Rams had discussed releasing Everett earlier in the season, and it’s still an option.

Everett’s season ended Sunday unlike any other--walking the sideline with his arms folded, wearing a baseball cap and greeting the offensive linemen as they came off the field.

It ended with Everett watching Rubley complete 18 of 28 passes for 213 yards and a touchdown against a Bears’ defense ranked fifth in the league.

And it ended with the fans, many who had booed Everett earlier in the season, cheering and hanging over the railing to high-five him as he headed for the locker room.

But it wasn’t quite the ending Everett or any of the Rams wanted--at 5-11 they took one step backward from last year in Coach Chuck Knox’s rebuilding programs. And the team’s collapse can be traced to Everett struggling through an 0-4 exhibition season, and his poor performances midway through the season.

“Jim has had a lot of fond memories here, so I think it was tough for him,” Rubley said. “We have tried not to hover over him, we let him have his space.

“If it were me, it would be an emotional time.”

Pending Everett’s possible departure, it appears Rubley has control of the Ram offense--at least for now.

The Rams will draft either fourth or fifth in April, and they might have a shot at taking Fresno State junior quarterback Trent Dilfer or Tennessee junior Heath Shuler, should they declare themselves eligible for the draft. Free agents such as Scott Mitchell, Chris Miller and Chris Chandler also are available.

Although he has been consistent against Cleveland and Chicago the past two weeks, Rubley’s future as the Ram starter is on somewhat shaky ground. Is he the Rams’ starting quarterback of the future?

“We can’t make that decision right now,” Knox said. “He (Rubley) certainly is in the running.”

Rubley, insisting he wasn’t ready to become a starter, reluctantly took over the offense in late October. After Rubley was sacked seven times in his debut at San Francisco, Knox yanked Everett out of the bullpen and started him in home games against Atlanta and Washington.

Atlanta intercepted two Everett passes in a 13-0 Falcon victory, and the offense was stuck in reverse against Washington until Rubley came in during the second half and threw a touchdown pass to Troy Drayton that gave the Rams a 10-6 victory.

Rubley’s performance that day earned him the starting job for the rest of the season, a position that left him feeling as awkward as a high school freshman. He failed to complete 50% of his passes in his next four starts, including a combined 10 of 28 against Phoenix and New Orleans.

With rookie Jerome Bettis emerging as a Pro Bowl tailback, Rubley’s most productive move on offense was to hand the ball off. As a passer, he was inconsistent, hitting Drayton for a touchdown in one game, then overthrowing him by 10 yards in another.

Still, Rubley produced steady but not stunning numbers in his final two games, completing 42 of his final 60 passes (70%) for 507 yards with two touchdowns and two interceptions.

“You can’t base my progress on the past two games because of the growing pains from the first three,” he said. “That’s experience. I’m just trying not to make the same mistake twice.

Mistakes Rubley no doubt will dissect during the off-season. A noted game-film junkie, Rubley plans to wear out the replay button on the VCR.

“I’ll watch a lot of films and break them down,” he said. “I’ll do some constructive criticism of myself and then move on.”