Vermeil Plans to Have Fun This Time

Meet the new Dick Vermeil, so loose, so carefree that he doesn’t even plan to have a curfew for his St. Louis Rams this week as they prepare for Super Bowl XXXIV on Sunday against the Tennessee Titans.

The old Vermeil, whose Philadelphia Eagles reached Super Bowl XV before losing to the Oakland Raiders, was so uptight that he did everything but tuck his players in Super Bowl week.

But don’t think that means Vermeil will bury his head in Super Bowl hoopla.

“If anybody is out on the town screwing around,” he said, “we would send them home. This is a business trip. If you can’t zero in on that, you don’t belong in the National Football League. But we don’t have anybody like that.”

Certainly not defensive end Kevin Carter.

“This is the Super Bowl,” he said. “If the coach tells me to eat cookies, drink milk and be in bed at 8 o’clock, I’ll do it.

“If I have to hop on one leg for half an hour before bedtime, I’ll do it.”

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Tennessee safety Marcus Robertson, who suffered a broken left fibula in Sunday’s victory over the Jacksonville Jaguars, will be replaced by Anthony Dorsett in the Super Bowl.

Receiver Yancey Thigpen also suffered a fracture in Sunday’s game, but Coach Jeff Fisher is still holding out faint hope that Thigpen could play against the Rams.

Thigpen’s injury is a hairline fracture of the right foot.

“He desperately wants to play,” Fisher said, “but it’s unlikely.”

Quarterback Steve McNair, who played in Sunday’s game despite a bruised toe, reported no further problems Monday.

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After Sunday’s game, the Titans flew home to Nashville, where a crowd estimated at between 35,000 and 40,000 greeted them at Adelphia Coliseum.

The team met Monday morning, then flew to Atlanta in the evening.

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Vermeil and Fisher left their coaching staffs home to devise game plans.

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HOW THEY COMPARE

REGULAR SEASON

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Ten StL Points scored 24.5 (7) 32.9 (1) Points allowed 20.3 (14) 15.1 (4) Passing O 226.4 (18) 286.2 (1) Rushing O 113.2 (13) 128.7 (5) Total O 339.6 (15) 414.9 (1) Passing D 250.0 (26) 241.7 (24) Rushing D 96.9 (10) 74.3 (1) Total D 346.9 (18) 316.0 (7)

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PLAYOFFS

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Ten StL Points scored 24.7 30.0 Points allowed 15.3 21.5 Passing O 93.0 316.0 Rushing O 171.0 41.0 Total O 264.0 357.0 Passing D 180.0 255.0 Rushing D 115.0 82.0 Total D 295.0 337.0

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