By Bill Coats
ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH
Friday, Oct. 05 2007
In 14 NFL seasons, Andy McCollum never has witnessed an offensive line so
bruised and battered. “I haven’t seen that many injuries in a three- or
four-year span,” he said, “and it’s only been four weeks or so here that we’ve
lost that many guys.”
The group includes tackle
Orlando Pace (shoulder) and guard
Mark Setterstrom
(knee), whose seasons are over; tackle Todd Steussie (foot), who is out until
at least November; guard/tackle Adam Goldberg (knee), who will be sidelined for
a month or so; and guard
Richie Incognito (ankle), who finally is back after
missing six weeks.
“It’s rare and it’s unfortunate, because a lot of good guys went down,”
McCollum added. But it also opened an opportunity for McCollum, whose play has
been limited to the field-goal and extra-point units since losing the
first-team center job to Brett Romberg in the preseason.
After initially resisting the temptation, coach Scott Linehan has been working
McCollum at guard, and it appears he will succeed Claude Terrell as the starter
on the left side Sunday when Arizona visits the Edward Jones Dome.
“He certainly deserves it,” Linehan said. “I think it would be a really
settling move for us to have a veteran there. We moved Alex (Barron from right
tackle), and he’s basically going into his fourth game in the NFL as a left
tackle. It helps to play next to a guy that’s played a lot.”
McCollum — at 37, the oldest player on the squad — acknowledged that he
expected to be tapped earlier, as the injuries began to mount. But he didn’t
lobby the coaches.
“I pretty much kept my mouth shut,” he said. “It’s on film where I’ve been and
what I’ve done, so it’s up to them. If they felt like they wanted me to be the
backup guy at center or wherever else, that’s what I was going to do.”
Linehan explained that guard is “not a natural position for him, and we had
guys that were natural (guards). ... Now our backup center is going to be
starting, so we’ll have the ability to swing him if something happens. But I’m
thinking positive, that we’re all done with any O-line injuries.”
McCollum started all 16 games at left guard in 2003, so he’s not treading
uncharted territory as he readjusts. “It’s just little technique things, taking
the right sets and such,” he said. “I think I’m getting it squared away.”
Watching the Rams drop their first four games made his exile even more
difficult, McCollum conceded. “It’s still a team, and you definitely want to
win,” he said. “Those are your teammates and you’d like to be out there helping
them.
Hopefully, I’ll get a chance this week.”
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