Rams’ Miller Hopes Knee Is Up to Snuffing Critics : Football: An earlier injury still lingers on the minds of some observers. The quarterback says he is ready for challenge.

The right knee is scarred from surgery, sliced open to remove a healthy piece of tendon along with chunks of bone from a shin and a kneecap to repair a damaged left knee.

Two screws remain in the left knee, a knee that has required surgery twice in the past two years, a knee that must stay healthy now if the Rams are to improve in 1994.

If Chris Miller’s knee holds up . . . “Oh, yeah, that’s what fans are going to be saying,” Miller said, “but that’s not what I’m thinking.

“My knee feels great and I expect to do great things this year. I got so much left in me. I’m only 28. I got a couple of knees on my record now, but I feel good and I’m throwing the ball as well as I ever have.”

Miller, who posted John Elway and Dan Marino-like numbers before being hurt, stunned the Rams by passing their physical examination and then signed a $9-million, three-year contract to replace Jim Everett as the team’s starting quarterback.

In Miller the Rams have a two-handicap golfer, a former shortstop in the minors for the Seattle Mariners, an athlete who considers basketball his best sport, and a young man smart enough to endear himself to the hometown fans with stories about how he grew up cheering for Roman Gabriel and Jack Youngblood.

“The main thing for me now is to learn the terminology here,” Miller said. “All the (calls for the) runs here are going to be odd to the right, even to the left and I’ve been opposite my whole life. So I’m sure there will be one or two plays where I probably go to hand off and nobody is there.

“In Atlanta with the run-and-shoot, you might call, ‘80-Z-Choice,’ and that was your whole play. Here you may call, ‘Shift, split right, zoom, up or 585 H-seam swing,’ or something like that. It’s a lot longer terminology.

“All our routes in the run-and-shoot were read routes, whereas here you know pretty much ahead of time what the receivers are going to do. There will be new patterns to learn, and I’ll be throwing to a tight end for the first time in four years, but I played in this kind of offense my first three years in Atlanta. I was pretty green behind the ears at that time and yet I was still doing some amazing things, so I’m looking forward to this opportunity.”

Miller underwent surgery less than six months ago, but last week he operated without problem during an informal quarterbacks camp at Rams Park.

“We practiced, I went in and showered, came out and he was still throwing,” said Chick Harris, Ram offensive coordinator. “Then we had a guy in here for a tryout and he offered to throw to him.

“He has a live arm, good technique and he knows how to make adjustments. He threw a 15-yard out and the first time the ball sailed on him. He pointed his arm in the direction where the ball should have gone and came back and placed the ball right on the numbers with great velocity.”

There is no question about Miller’s arm. It is strong, accurate and capable of throwing the deep pass as well as any quarterback in the game.

It’s the knee, protected for now with a brace, that has so much riding on it.

“I could go full speed on it, but there’s no need right now,” Miller said. “There’s no swelling, and that’s good. It just has to get stronger now.

“I saw my doctor (Dr. Richard Steadman, former USA Ski Team physician) last week and he did all the tests and said, ‘We couldn’t have expected it to be this good.’ He said it was unbelievable.”

Miller said he’s already looking forward to playing “some hoops” in a month or so, although he’s ruled out snow skiing this off-season.

“If I was healthy I wouldn’t be here,” Miller said. “I’d still be playing in Atlanta, putting up great numbers and helping that team win ball games. You just have to play with the hand you’re dealt, and I’m glad I’m here.

“Now it’s time to make an impact with the Rams. I should take less hits here than playing in the run-and-shoot. The coaches have told me they want me to hand it off to the big guy (Jerome Bettis), go deep and come back underneath with short passes if the long one isn’t there.”

Miller will hand the ball to Bettis with regularity, but he said Ram fans might be surprised to find the team throwing the ball more than they might expect.

“Jerome’s the guy, but when they start bringing up eight-man fronts, I’m going to audible and get outside to a pass,” Miller said. “You got to feed your running backs, but we’re going to throw the ball, too.”

Miller has played in only 11 games the past two years because of knee injuries, but in 1991 he threw for 26 touchdowns with 18 interceptions to lead the Falcons to the playoffs for the first time in nine years.

Miller, however, was at odds with Atlanta Coach Jerry Glanville almost from the start. Glanville blasted Miller for skipping an off-season workout to attend the Masters golf tournament.

“I took my dad to Augusta, and if I had the opportunity again I’d do the same damn thing,” Miller said. “Glanville went to the newspapers and it was ‘Glanville is ticked off at Miller,’ but that’s just Glanville. He can’t golf--he’s horrible--and likes racing cars or whatever, so that’s just his way of stirring up the pot.

“Glanville was trying to get Bobby Hebert in there. He tried to make me look like crap with some of the play-calling, and things weren’t good.”

Glanville no longer is coaching, but Miller is back behind center with a chance to start--if he can remain healthy.

With that in mind the team has been conducting an extensive search to land a left tackle who specializes in pass blocking in order to protect Miller when the game’s best defensive ends come calling.

“There have been two quarterbacks in the last two years to take every snap,” Miller said. “We all have injuries; you look around and pretty much every guy has a slice here and there. It’s something you have to deal with.

“That’s all behind me now, and I’m ready to do some great things here. I’ll be here most of May and June, and I want to hang around with the guys so they can say, ‘This guy’s out here busting his butt, so let’s get out here and do the same.’ I like what I see here, what the Rams are doing to improve themselves, and it’s a fresh start for me.

“I’m not worried about what people might think; the fans are going to be excited because they got a good QB. They can talk about the knee and wonder if it will hold up, but hopefully when we get under way they will be watching tight spirals landing in the arms of wide receivers in the end zone instead of my knee.”