Green makes convincing contribution

[RamDez]

By Bill Coats
Of the Post-Dispatch
Saturday, Aug. 13 2005

Trailing by a touchdown Friday night, the Chicago Bears marched crisply toward
the end zone midway through the fourth quarter. A tie - and possibly overtime -
loomed in the Rams' preseason opener.

But then defensive end Brandon Green put a crushing halt to the threat. On a
second-and-9 play from the Rams' 15-yard line, Green stormed in from the right
side and wrapped up rookie quarterback Kyle Orton. The Bears lost 6 yards on
the sack, and two plays later they settled for a 27-yard field goal.

That ended the scoring, and the Rams strolled off the spanking-new FieldTurf at
the Edward Jones Dome with a 17-13 triumph that Green had a strong hand in
preserving.

"It felt good to be able to contribute, to be able to stop a drive," he said.
"I thought I played pretty poorly early on, so I needed to come through in the
end there."

Green was credited with just the one sack in the unofficial press-box stats,
but he he blew into the Bears' backfield two other times and harassed the
quarterback. Green, a 6-foot-3, 264-pound third-year pro from Rice, already had
impressed the coaches during training camp as a "high-motor" player.

"When we brought Brandon in, we felt like that was the type of guy that we were
getting," coach Mike Martz said. "But he's probably a little more athletic than
what we anticipated."

Performing effectively - even in a preseason game - was another step toward a
roster spot for Green, whose NFL portfolio wasn't exactly bulging when the Rams
signed him as a free agent May 6. He was Jacksonville's sixth-round selection
in the 2003 draft, but a broken kneecap limited him to a total of three games
in two seasons. "I think it's important to show that you can produce at some
level," Green said. "As a defensive end, (a sack) is about the only thing you
can get noticed for. You can make a thousand tackles against the run, but no
one ever sees that. So, it's your only time to go out and strut around on the
field, after you get a sack."

Leonard Little and Anthony Hargrove are firmly established as the first-team
defensive ends, and Tyoka Jackson is a steadfast reserve. Green appears to have
an edge on undrafted rookies Clifford Dukes and Vontrell Jamison for the spot
in the rotation vacated by Bryce Fisher, who signed as a free agent with
Seattle in the offseason.

Green, 24, was diagnosed with diabetes at age 10 and must keep a close watch on
his blood-sugar level. He gives himself regular injections, but has learned to
regulate himself with Gatorade and other energy drinks during practices and
games.

"Some of the games are a little harder because I'm not sure when I'm going to
start playing and how long I'm going to play," he said. "I just have to go in
prepared to play any time during the game."

Just as he was in the final minutes Friday night.

Team gets a break

With the Rams' next preseason game more than a week away (Aug. 21 in San
Diego), Martz gave his troops the weekend off. Practice is scheduled to resume
at 8:30 a.m. Monday at Rams Park; the session will be open to the public.

First-round draft pick Alex Barron, a 6-7, 320-pound offensive tackle from
Florida State, signed a five-year deal Friday and was on the sideline in street
clothes during the game. He is expected to make his first appearance on the
practice field Monday morning after missing the first 2 1/2 weeks of training
camp.

[talkstoangels61]

Dez.He looked just like Grant used to for us ,his motor never stopped running! Hope this rubs off on the other players!

[RamsFan16]

Green will be awesome!

[RamDez]

Well lets hope so, the more big guys up front the better it will be for our secondary and thats always a good thing. its about time we got this D Line turned round

[RamsFan16]

How did our Run D do?

[RamsFanSam]

I think it was late in the 3rd or early in the 4th I remember seeing Chicago make a 20-yard run. Up to that point, our run D was fantastic compared to last year...and still looks good no matter how you slice it!

[RamsFan16]

Yea.... Did we have any big hits?

[sprtsmac]

I didn't get a chance to listen to or watch the game, so did Green play much in the 1st half? If not, I would like to see him play against a team's top units to really see how this guy plays.