Rams’ Offense Has Its Share of Problems : Pro football: Miller is 26th in passing efficiency, tight end Drayton complains about his diminished role and guard Loneker is sidelined.

Quarterback Chris Miller had begun addressing the state of the Rams’ offense on Monday when tailback Jerome Bettis passed by, clutching his lower back.

“Oh, no, my back,” Bettis said.

Then he smiled.

“Just kidding,” he added.

That’s hardly what a struggling Ram offense would need--an injured Bettis--after rolling up 421 yards but scoring only 13 points in Sunday’s loss to the Atlanta Falcons.

And although his back is fine, Bettis’ left wrist was heavily taped. It had been injured on a tackle but it was no reason to panic, he said.

“The doctors just wanted me to put this on so I could work out,” said Bettis, whose 154 yards rushing rank second in the NFC to the 261 by Dallas’ Emmitt Smith.

“It was sore Sunday night, but they wanted me to put this on as a precautionary measure so I could lift weights.”

Bettis said the sore wrist won’t affect his preparation for Sunday’s game against the San Francisco 49ers.

The 49ers come to town with a seven-game winning streak against the Rams, who can hardly afford any more setbacks in an offense that already has more than its share of problems:

--Miller has completed only 44.4% of his passes with one touchdown and four interceptions and has dropped to 26th in the NFL passing ratings.

--Tight end Troy Drayton, who has yet to catch a pass in two regular-season games, is complaining that he’s not part of the offense.

--Coach Chuck Knox said that starting left guard Keith Loneker, who is expected to undergo surgery on his fallen left arch, will be put on injured reserve.

The Rams rank 20th in the NFL in total offense with an average of 286.5 yards, and on Sunday failed to score from the Falcon one on three runs up the middle by Bettis.

The offensive line was penalized seven times for 55 yards, twice for holding by right guard Leo Goeas and another time for holding by Drayton.

“There’s a big imbalance between the number of holding calls on Atlanta and called on us,” Knox said. “It’s just one of those things that you have to put up with.”

Drayton, a third-round draft pick last year, complained after Sunday’s game that he wasn’t getting the ball enough and that he wasn’t sure of his role.

“You can’t imagine how I feel right now,” Drayton said. “Coming into the season, I thought I was going to be a big part of this offense. Now, I don’t know what my status is.”

Told of Drayton’s frustration, Knox said, “He ought to be frustrated that we didn’t win.”

Knox then added, “Obviously, you want to get the ball to the tight end because this is a guy who can do something with it once he gets it.”

Knox said the Rams tried twice to throw to Drayton in the season-opening victory over Arizona. Sunday, Drayton was open inside Atlanta’s 15-yard line, but Miller overthrew him and D.J. Johnson intercepted at the Falcons’ four.

“We do need to do a better job of getting Troy the ball,” Miller said.

“The better he gets at route recognition and those types of things, he will open up more and get involved like he needs to be.”

Miller, signed by the Rams in the off-season, didn’t have a tight end for the seven seasons he ran Atlanta’s run-and-shoot offense. The Rams also pull Drayton off the field when they use their four-wide receiver formation.

“It’s true, we haven’t directed too many routes to the tight end,” Miller said.

“But a lot of the time, he’s not in there.”