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For Ed Simmons, it's either starting lineup or bust

For Ed Simmons, it's either starting lineup or bust. Either Simmons, 34, starts at left guard for the Rams this season or he retires.

"I just don't see myself going out and busting my butt every day and sitting on the bench," Simmons said. "That's not what I'm all about. Not this late in my career and not with the experience I have. I'm not going to sit on the bench and let it go to waste. I'd rather go out and enjoy life -- spend time with my family and travel."

Rams coach Dick Vermeil doesn't want Simmons as a backup. "I just can't see keeping an old veteran with some physical problem as backup," Vermeil said. "He either has to be a starter or ... I have explained that to him and he knows that."

Simmons is listed as the starting left guard ahead of Ryan Tucker on the Rams' latest depth chart. However, Simmons played only one game at left guard during his 11 seasons with the Washington Redskins. That was the third game of his rookie year in 1987. "It was against Detroit and that was the first time I hurt my knee," Simmons said. "I was blocking Jerry Ball and he was a load."

Simmons said the biggest difference between playing guard and tackle -- the position he played on the Redskins' storied "Hogs" offensive line -- is on pass protection. "You can't back up and get ready to take on a guy," Simmons said. "You have to fight him right now or else I'm in the quarterback's way, which happened today. I kept backing up, and the next thing I knew, I turned
around and I was in the quarterback's face."
Simmons' knees are a concern. "The way they have always been," he said of how his knees felt Friday
during the Rams' minicamp. "My left knee doesn't bother me at all. My right knee always hurts."

Simmons has had several knee surgeries. "I haven't counted them," he said. "Just one major surgery and three or four cleanups." Simmons said he isn't worried about playing on the artificial surface at the Trans World Dome. He played on it last season with the Redskins. "It makes you feel like you are a little quicker," he said. "It's bouncy. I do like it. It's one of the nicest ones."

After being released by the Redskins this winter, Simmons thought his career might be over. But, then Rams offensive line coach Jim Hanifan, Simmons' former offensive line coach with the Redskins, called. Simmons, who was raised on the West Coast, said he was interested in playing for the Rams and no other team, not even the Oakland Raiders, who recently contacted his agent. "I told my agent, 'Forget Oakland. I don't care if it's close to home or not. They didn't talk to me early. I'm going to go with Hanifan. If he doesn't
sign me, I'm going to retire,' " Simmons said.

Tucker, who is sidelined with a hamstring injury, wasn't ready to concede the starting job to Simmons. "I'm still going to fight for it," Tucker said. "I'm not going to lay down." Tucker suffered a partially torn hamstring muscle while running 10-yard dashes as part of a conditioning exercise about two weeks ago. "It made a pretty good pop when it happened," he said. "I just pulled it. It's nobody's fault. It's something that will happen."

Tucker said he should be able to run full speed again in two to three weeks. That means he'll be healthy in time to report for training camp on
July 24.

The Rams could use a veteran on their offensive line, but the jury is still out on whether Simmons is that man.

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