Chandler to Start Against Chiefs : Rams: Miller will sit out Sunday’s game because of sore ribs and a pinched nerve in his shoulder.

Now just what was the over-under this season on how long it would be before Chris Chandler replaced Chris Miller as the Rams’ starting quarterback?

That’s right--three games.

The injury-prone Miller will be unable to play Sunday against the Kansas City Chiefs, and Chandler will make his first regular-season start as a Ram.

The team made it official Wednesday, announcing that Miller will sit out because of his sore ribs and a pinched nerve in his right throwing shoulder.

“My shoulder is inflamed and I still don’t have all the feeling back in my fingertips,” said Miller, who has had several injuries in his eight-year NFL career and has undergone two knee surgeries in the last two years.

“It would just be a good time to rest the ribs and the shoulder.”

So it’s only a precautionary measure?

“If I could, I would play this weekend, and I’m sure I could get it medically to where I could,” Miller said. “But if I keep getting hit and keep irritating it, it’ll continue to be a pain in the . . .”

Chandler, signed by the Rams in the off-season as insurance for Miller, worked with the first string Wednesday.

Third-string quarterback Tommy Maddox, acquired in an Aug. 27 trade with Denver, will back up Chandler, Ram Coach Chuck Knox said.

Chandler said Miller’s injury-prone rap may have convinced Miller to stay in the Sunday’s 34-19 loss to San Francisco after he suffered the pinched nerve when Dana Stubblefield in the second quarter.

“I don’t know who decides these labels on people,” Chandler said. “People are going to decide that (Notre Dame quarterback) Ron Powlus is a superstar as a freshman, only because the media just decides he is.

“People will decide that Miller is injury-prone just because the media decides he is. People don’t say that about Randall Cunningham, although Randall probably has been hurt more than Chris has. It’s just unfair, that whole process of labeling, there’s just no basis for it.”

Miller, who signed a three-year, $9-million deal with the Rams in March, missed the Rams’ exhibition opener at Green Bay with a sore abdomen.

Chandler started in his place, completing nine of 18 passes for 149 yards with no touchdowns and one interception.

Miller is still bothered by sore ribs from the regular-season opener when he was hit by Arizona’s Eric Swann. He received three pain-killing injections in his rib cage for the Atlanta game and got an injection in his shoulder after pinching the nerve Sunday.

“Chuck and I talked about this Tuesday,” Miller said. “The best thing to do is get it right, let it heal, take a break and then get on top of my game.”

Reserve quarterback T.J. Rubley, who started seven games last season, is on the injured-reserve list with tendinitis in his right throwing elbow, leaving Chandler and Maddox as the team’s only healthy quarterbacks.

Knox said the Rams will bring Miller on the trip as the emergency quarterback in case Chandler and Maddox are injured.

“We could put Miller in there in a disaster-plan role,” Knox said. “He could hand the ball off.”

Chandler has lost battles for starting jobs with Vinny Testaverde at Tampa Bay and with Steve Beuerlein at Arizona.

He has started 39 games in a seven-year NFL career with Indianapolis, Tampa Bay and most recently, Arizona.

He started 13 games as a rookie in Indianapolis in 1988, completing 55.4% of his passes with eight touchdowns and 12 interceptions. In 1992, he started 13 games with Arizona before losing his starting job to Beuerlein last year.

In his last regular-season start, Arizona’s 20-15 loss at Dallas on Nov. 14, 1993, Chandler completed 27 of 46 passes for 214 yards with one touchdown and one interception.

Chandler has come in the past two games in relief of Miller, completing 18 of 32 passes (56.3%) for one touchdown and no interceptions.

Knox coveted Chandler in the off-season, pursuing him for a while as a possible starter.