By Bill Coats
ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH
Wednesday, Aug. 02 2006
After two NFL seasons in which he made at least one start at each of the three
linebacker positions,
Brandon Chillar finally seems to have found a home.
That would be on the strong side of the Rams' defense, next to
Will Witherspoon
at middle linebacker and across from
Pisa Tinoisamoa on the weak side.
"I prefer the strong side," Chillar said. "That's what I played in college.
I've had the most experience there."
The 6-foot-3, 242-pound Chillar was an All-Pacific 10 Conference selection his
senior year at UCLA, when he collected a team-high 133 tackles, the most by a
Bruin since 1989. His per-game average of 10.2 topped the Pac-10. The Rams
nabbed him in the fourth round of the 2004 draft (No. 130 overall).
Chillar, 23, started five games his rookie year: two in the middle and three on
the strong side. Last season, after the free-agent acquisitions of Dexter
Coakley (weak side) and Chris Claiborne (middle), Tinoisamoa moved to the
strong side. Chillar made seven starts, all on the weak side, the last four
after Coakley suffered a season-ending leg injury.
Now, Claiborne is gone - released after the season - and Coakley is backing up
Tinoisamoa. "It feels good to be No. 1, and I'm just trying to keep it,"
Chillar said.
Coach Scott Linehan said: "Brandon's having a very solid camp. He's always in
the right position, and he's a coach's dream, because he does exactly what he's
coached to do. ... He very rarely makes the same mistake twice."
Chillar has impressive speed and range. Playing on the strong side, where the
tight end lines up, requires a lot of self-control, too, he stressed.
"Discipline is a big part of that, because sometimes you have to wait for the
cutback and you can't run over the top as fast," he said. "Sometimes, you have
to play a little bit slower but smarter."
Coordinator
Jim Haslett, attempting to revamp the defense that finished 31st in
the 32-team league in total yards last year, could feature as many as seven
first-team players who weren't Rams starters at the close of the 2005 season.
That group would include Witherspoon, plus fellow free-agent pickups Fakhir
Brown (cornerback),
Corey Chavous (strong safety) and La'Roi Glover (tackle).
Tussle lesson
The first scuffle of training camp featured linebacker Mike Goolsby and rookie
running back Antoine Bagwell on Tuesday. They were separated quickly but with
no help from the head coach.
"Never," Linehan said. "When I was real young, I jumped in the middle of one
and I caught a hook to the jaw. I'll blow my whistle a lot, but other than
that, I'm going to let it play out."
Faulk's dilemma
Linehan confirmed that surgeons in Los Angeles were unable to repair running
back Marshall Faulk's right knee Friday. Linehan said they found that Faulk's
posterior cruciate ligament was too damaged to continue the procedure.
"There wasn't much left of the ligament," Linehan said. "If he wants to have a
chance to ever play again, he's probably going to have to have a complete
reconstruction."
Ram-blings
Free-agent running back Moe Williams made a second visit to Rams Park on
Tuesday but left without signing a contract. Williams, a 10-year veteran,
played in Minnesota when Linehan was the Vikings' offensive coordinator. ...
Tackle
Orlando Pace returned Tuesday. He was excused from Monday's practices
because of the birth of his son, Landon.
Linear Mode
