Ram Camp : As Rookies, Scott and Gray Help Each Other

Any wide receiver under oath will confess that his dream is to spend his career playing one on one against rookie cornerbacks, as Chuck Scott plays against Jerry Gray.

“He’s left corner and I play the right side, so we go against each other every day,” Scott said.

Scott, understand, has been a pro football player longer than Gray. About a week longer. He was the Rams’ second-round draft choice from Vanderbilt, Gray the first-round selection from Texas.

The Rams didn’t plan it that way, but their 1985 draft created football’s classic confrontation--receiver vs. defender--between their top two draft picks in training camp.

Because of drawn-out contract negotiations, Scott was two weeks late reporting to camp, Gray three. Both have since had to play catch-up, and their best chances to look good occur when they line up against each other.

“You can tell the difference between going against him and going against an experienced vet,” Scott said. “He’s got as much speed and talent as anybody out there, but he’s still making some rookie mistakes. I might beat him on a move that LeRoy (Irvin) or Johnnie Johnson wouldn’t take.”

Then again, Scott added, “Now Jerry’s learning, too, so he’s getting tougher.”

Gray said that the Rams’ more experienced receivers, such as Henry Ellard, have shown some moves he never saw at Texas. “Just about every day.”

Scott, at 6-2 and 202 pounds, “is big and really not as quick, but he can get off and catch the football,” Gray said.

Steve Shafer, who coaches the defensive backs, said that he had planned to groom Gray to play one on one against the opponent’s best receiver in special pass coverage, but the holdout changed his mind.

Gray already was switching from safety to cornerback.

“New position, new defenses,” Shafer said. “He’s learning completely from scratch. But we’ve got plenty of time (before the season opens Sept. 8) so we might return to it.”

Gray said of his holdout: “It hurt a lot in learning the plays and the technique, the footwork. But right now I’ve got the plays down and I’m working frantic, kind of in a panic, to get the footwork down.

“If I’d have been in camp those three weeks I would have had the footwork and the plays, and I’d be in a more comfortable position.”

Gray said he is working on “breaking on the ball, not wasting any steps, concentrating on the receiver.”

Pro receivers, he has found, are not the same as college receivers. “They know how to get away from you on the bump and run, and they know where the ball is going.”

Because Gary Green was injured, Gray played most of the first exhibition game against the Houston Oilers last week.

“I was really nervous because that was my first time ever being in a professional game,” he said. “I don’t care how high you’re drafted, you’re always going to feel nervous.

Scott was not expected to start ahead of Ellard and Ron Brown this season, and after arriving late he admits to running scared at times.

“So far it’s been a slow process, slower than I ever thought it would be,” he said. “I was out here most of the summer so I learned the routes and some of the teaching points. I had the playbook. What hurt me was missing the Dallas and San Diego scrimmages, things on the field I’m learning now.

“In college you could get open on every play, but now the defensive backs are a lot better. Everybody’s better. It’s a humbling experience when you have to learn all over again new ways to get open.

“What’s shocking is that all the free agents are good. When you get in you think, ‘Well, I was a second-rounder so it shouldn’t be tough.’ Then you see those guys out there and think, ‘Wow!’ You don’t realize how tough the competition is for a job in the pros until you get there. Everybody’s good. The defensive backs are much smarter.”

Against the Oilers, Jeff Kemp threw two passes to Scott, neither complete.

“I was slow breaking in on the route, waiting for the linebacker ahead of me to clear,” Scott said. “I took too long. At Vanderbilt we’d kind of drift upfield and stop in an open area. Here we’ve got to break across the middle.”

Scott’s confidence has been reinforced somewhat by the presence of his parents, visiting from Florida, and he knows that receivers coach Lew Erber will always be helpful.

“I’m on him all the time,” Erber said. “When he makes a mistake I’m gonna be there. But he’s got a great attitude and he works hard. He’s getting better. You don’t get drafted and walk on the field and play. You work at it.”

Erber is trying to impress upon Scott the theory that you can’t catch the ball unless you get open. “A big guy has more problems getting open against the bump and run,” he said. “It gets frustrating. He’s got to learn how to fight through the problems and not get tensed up.”

Ram Notes

The Rams released cornerback Roderick Fisher, who was on injured reserve as a rookie last season. He is only the fifth Ram cut, leaving the roster at 83, including Eric Dickerson, Jack Youngblood and Greg Meisner, who aren’t in camp. Twenty-three must go by next Tuesday. . . . Tight end Tony Hunter may not play in the second exhibition game against the St. Louis Cardinals at Anaheim Thursday night. He has a bruised thigh muscle. . . . Running back Barry Redden has a sore hamstring, which could mean a lot of game time for Charles White and A.J. Jones. . . . Henry Ellard is wearing a cast on his jammed thumb, which might have caused him to drop a pass from Dieter Brock against the Oilers. . . . Coach John Robinson said Brock will play the first half Thursday, with Jeff Kemp and Steve Dils sharing the second half.