THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, October 29, 1995 TAG: 9510290162
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C10 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: JIM DUCIBELLA
LENGTH: Long : 130 lines
Rams quarterback Chris Miller has suffered four concussions in the last 13 months and some people - including his wife Jennifer - are concerned with the risk he takes.
``Before every game, I am a wreck,'' she said recently. ``I worry about him all the time. My No. 1 interest now is to make sure he comes out of the game in one piece.''
There are indications that damage from the concussions is mounting:
After a game in Anaheim last year, it took Miller two hours to navigate a 20-minute drive home. He forgot where he lived.
He told a friend he had a game the next day, but that was on a Thursday.
He has forgotten phone numbers.
``It's a risk,'' Miller said, ``but everybody out there is taking a risk. Big suckers are coming at you. . . . You're holding the rock. They want a piece of you. You're trying to hang in there. I don't want to back down. That's just the way it is.''
HUDDLING WITH . . . Carolina Panthers coach Dom Capers
Two weeks ago, people were wondering if you would ever win a game. Now your team has a chance to become the first expansion team to win three games in a row.
I felt if we could take care of business and our guys would mature and we could come together as a team and keep working at things, then we could become competitive.
I didn't have any illusions coming in here that everything was going to fall into place and we'd be 6-0 or 7-0. To me, it was a challenge of starting from scratch and being able to build something and hopefully see it develop and see the team come together. And I've seen a lot of those things happening to our football team. I felt when we were 0-5 that I had seen a lot of those things happen.
Seems like most of the improvement has been by your defense. It's 11th in the league and hasn't allowed a touchdown in the past two games, held the Jets to just 25 yards rushing two weeks ago and forced five turnovers against the Saints.
And this is the first game this season that we have not turned the football over. Even though we're sputtering and struggling at times, we didn't make the really foolish errors. Guys have been rallying all season long and staying focused, taking care of business. This is the most positive momentum we've had.
BELIEVE IT OR NOT: The Cowboys, 49ers and expansion Jacksonville Jaguars have one unusual thing in common - they are very good at scoring from inside the 20-yard line.
The Cowboys, who lead the league in scoring efficiency inside the 20, have scored 19 touchdowns in the 30 times they've made it that far downfield, or 63.3 percent of the time. The 49ers have 15 touchdowns on 24 tries for 62.5 percent.
Jacksonville is next at 60 percent, with 12 touchdowns in 20 chances. The Jaguars also have six field goals.
``When we get into the red zone, we know we're going to score,'' Jaguars receiver Ernest Givins said. ``Field goals aren't good enough. You don't have the ball for 12 plays and think about field goals. That's just not good enough. If you come away with a field goal, you're kind of left mentally distraught.''
In their three victories, the Jaguars have been inside their opponents' 20-yard line 10 times. They scored on nine of those drives - six touchdowns and three field goals. One ended with an interception.
RUN SILENT, RUN FAR: The Eagles' running game is always quiet, and, recently, deadly: Its featured backs, Ricky Watters and Charlie Garner, don't talk to the media. Rather, they speak with their legs.
So far, so good.
Watters is fourth in the NFC with 622 rushing yards. Garner is 15th with 329 yards and a 5.8-yards-per-carry average, among the highest in either conference. The Eagles have the league's top running attack.
Philly coach Ray Rhodes has started Watters, who combines good power with enough speed to turn the corner, and then inserted Garner as his change of pace. Garner's forte is the cutback run, with his vision and quick feet allowing him to see holes and cut quickly toward them.
Guard Guy McIntyre, who blocked for Watters at San Francisco, said there isn't much of a change in Watters' running style from his days with the 49ers. However, he's been amazed by Garner's remarkable ability to find a crease and run through it.
``He's just an added dimension to this team with what he can do with the ball once he gets it,'' he said. ``He can take a tiny bit of space and make a lot of things happen.''
The only drawback to Philadelphia being so good at taking the ball and running with it is that McIntyre sees it as a rallying point for opposing defenses.
``They go into the game saying, `OK, they've got the No. 1 run offense and we've got to go out there and shut these guys down.' ''
IF YOU ASK ME: The Jets have been feeding off their first victory since Sept. 17. Did coach Rich Kotite notice a change in confidence level? ``Yeah - I noticed it with me,'' he said, with remarkable candor. . . . A loophole in Deion Sanders' contract might allow him to become an unrestricted free agent after five years with the Cowboys. Did anyone really think he would stay that long? ... The 49ers, once so cool in victory, now have this acute sensitivity to any perceived lack of respect from an opponent or the media. Apparently, they were enraged last week by a couple of luke-warm comments from members of the Rams. . . . The league's biggest surprise at midseason is K.C. quarterback Steve Bono. Even Bono admits the Chiefs are in better shape than he thought they would be. . . . League MVP: Cowboys running back Emmitt Smith. Smith is averaging 5 yards a carry, a figure he reached only once in five previous seasons. . . . Coach of the year: Rich Brooks, Rams. He has given direction and organization to a Rams team that had none this time a year ago. . . . Play of the year: John Elway's 43-yard touchdown pass on the final play to give Denver a 38-31 victory over the Redskins on Sept. 17. . . . Best comeback from a guy thought washed-up: Quarterback Jim Harbaugh, Colts. He's the NFL's No. 1-rated passer. . . . The Eagles' Rhodes is so disgusted with his special teams, and presumably special teams coach Danny Smith, that he has assigned all but one of his other assistants to work with an area of special teams. . . . Cardinals QB Dave Krieg is upset that Seattle hasn't retired his old number, 17, and that John Friesz, the Seahawks' starting QB today, will wear it. . . . The Oilers have benched rookie running back Rodney Thomas because of four fumbles, three of them lost, during a three-game losing streak. In the last two games, Thomas fumbled on his first carry. MEMO: Compiled from The Virginian-Pilot wire-service reports. ILLUSTRATION: Photos
At times, Rams QB Chris Miller has forgotten the day and where he
lived.
Carolina coach Dom Capers: This is the most positive momentum we've
had.
Charlie Garner
Ricky Watters
by CNB