Rams News

Hairston is impressed with free agent

08/17

By Jim Thomas
Of the Post-Dispatch

MACOMB, Ill. -- Of all the roster positions entering Rams training camp, defensive line figured to be the toughest to crack for the unsung ballplayer.
Kevin Carter and Grant Wistrom are first-round draft picks. Ray Agnew and Joe Phillips were free-agent pickups in the offseason. Right now, Jay Williams is the starting right defensive end. D'Marco Farr is the team's best pass-rushing tackle. Jeff Robinson is very good as a deep snapper, and he doesn't embarrass himself at end, either.
That's seven players right there. And if the team keeps as many as nine defensive linemen, Bryan Robinson and Jeff Zgonina are there. So where does that leave Corey Sears, a free agent from Mississippi State?
``He's having a hell of a training camp,'' said defensive line coach Carl Hairston. ``He played well (against San Diego) with the first group.''
Sears, 6-feet-2, 293 pounds, got some playing time in with the first-team defense Saturday against the Chargers because Carter had the flu and Bryan Robinson was out with a knee injury. He had an active night, too, with five tackles, including a stinging hit of Chargers running back Kenny Bynum behind the line of scrimmage for a 5-yard loss.
``I'm really happy for him,'' Hairston said. ``He's playing pretty well right now.''
Because of the numbers game on the defensive line, it still may not be enough for Sears, who spent half the 1996 season on Baltimore's roster.
``Corey's like me when I came into the league -- he wants a job,'' said Hairston, a 7th-round draft pick by Philadelphia in 1976.
Injury update: A medical examination showed an ``abnormality'' in Daryl Bush's injured knee, but it could be residue from the knee operation the rookie linebacker had at Florida State. The Rams want to see an MRI exam from Florida State before deciding on a course of action.
Carter (ribs) and running back Amp Lee (foot) sat out Monday afternoon's practice, but neither injury is thought to be more than a day-to-day ailment. Meanwhile, safety Keith Lyle (hamstring) and linebacker Roman Phifer (calf) returned to the practice field Monday.
Ram-blings: Tight end Ernie Conwell returned to Seattle because of a death in the family and won't re-join the team until Thursday when the Rams are back in St. Louis. . . . Tight ends coach Lynn Stiles missed Monday's workouts. He stopped in Reno, Nev., en route from San Diego to tend to his ailing mother. . . . Even though tight end Aaron Laing wasn't cleared by Green Bay's doctors because of a pinched nerve in his neck and shoulder area, a re-examination by Rams doctors showed no problem. If the Rams can't work out a trade with another team, Laing will be waived.

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