Gary Recovers After Fumbles : Rams: Running back says he has put game behind him and apologizes for behavior.
This time, Cleveland Gary promised himself and anybody who listened Monday that he will not allow his breakthrough season to be ruined by a spree of dropped footballs.
Sunday, in a dark reminder of his 12-fumble season two years ago, the Rams’ tailback lost two crucial fumbles to the Cardinals, one of which set up Phoenix’s winning touchdown drive.
After the game, Gary bolted out of the locker room before anybody could stop him for an explanation.
But Monday, with his coach and teammates still voicing their support for him, Gary faced the media, apologized for his postgame duck-and-run, and said he was too strong to let these most-recent fumbles destroy what had been shaping up to be a Pro Bowl-caliber season.
“I want to be a perfectionist when it comes to not fumbling,” Gary said Monday. “Yesterday was a relapse, and I think in order to succeed at anything, I can’t do from a mental standpoint what I did before . . . I start thinking about it, and that won’t happen.
“I had one (bad) day. I’m proud of myself, and I’ve learned how to reward myself. I’ve carried the ball a hundred-something times without dropping the football, so what I have to do is put that one day behind me.”
Coach Chuck Knox downplayed Gary’s fumbles Monday and said Gary is the team’s tailback, period. Knox said he thought the fumbles came as a result of Gary exposing himself trying to make second- and third-effort yards, the kind of hard running Knox has always admired.
“All I’m going on is what I’ve seen since we’ve been here, and he’s sitting up there about the third-leading rusher in the NFC,” Knox said. “He’s done a good job for us.
“I don’t want him to go up in there and just lay down on the ball. You’ve got to go up, take it up in there . . . and he has been hanging onto it. (But) these things happen.
“I still think you’ve got to run up in there as hard as you can run, and fight, get everything you can get--but take the ball with you.”
Before Sunday, Gary had fumbled twice--losing one--in 150 carries. Last year, Gary fumbled on his second carry of the season--also against the Cardinals--and never got back into Coach John Robinson’s main running rotation.
This season, though, with the solid backing of Knox, Gary has gained 718 yards in 167 carries and scored eight touchdowns.
“Yesterday was just an awful experience, but it was an experience that I learned from,” Gary said. “This year, I’ve had so much success pretty much when I’ve wanted . . .
“But yesterday was different.”
On Sunday, Gary’s fumbles were a variety pack of bobbles. The first one came early in the third quarter, when Gary said he was trying to make a big play happen after being held to seven yards in seven attempts in the first half.
Gary crashed into the line, was slowed, then spun through the pile for extra yardage. But he swung his arm away from his body and exposed the ball to linebacker Eric Hill, who knocked it loose.
“I could’ve very well taken a four or five-yard gain,” Gary said. “But instead, I spun off, and I put my body in a position maybe I shouldn’t have put it in. I spun off and tried to make something happen.
“I was pressing it too hard. I was more focused on making things happen than the basic fundamentals. It just left me.”
That was the sort of fumble that plagued Gary in 1990--exposing the ball when he was trying to make late moves. His second fumble, which tumbled out of bounds, was similar.
The third, and most costly, came when Ken Harvey burst past a block and met Gary moments after Gary took the handoff.
“What I have to do (is) go back to the basic fundamentals, get the ball over the pressure points and keep it in,” Gary said. “And what I can’t do, I can’t do.
“I have to keep it there rather than letting it slip sometimes. It got a little comfortable.”
Despite his quick yank last season, Gary said he never feared that Knox was going to pull him for good Sunday, or that his teammates were losing confidence in him.
“That thought never entered my mind,” Gary said. “Coach Knox has judged Cleveland based on what he’s done since he’s been here. Coach Knox isn’t reliving somebody else’s past.
“He looks at a man for his character, the way he is when he sees him.
“I’m grateful that Coach Knox and my teammates haven’t judged me on the past, and I think that’s why I’ve been successful. That has helped my confidence factor tremendously. It gives me motivation to put this garbage behind me.”
And Gary, who said he left the locker room quickly because he was still stunned by his fumbles, made a point of trying to put his Sunday media no-show behind him.
“The first thing I would like to do is apologize for my departing,” Gary said. “It was a mistake. I am human, and I do make mistakes. And one of the mistakes I made (Sunday) was leaving and not facing the media.
“I had a lot on my mind at the time, and I handled it the best way I felt I knew how. And obviously it wasn’t the way I should’ve handled it. I should’ve stayed there.
“I left because I wanted to give myself time to think about what had happened. It really hadn’t sunk in.”
RAM NUMBERS / HIGHLIGHT: JIM EVERETT
Jim Everett is “back!” Although the Rams’ overall record doesn’t reflect it, Everett has regained the form that made him one of the NFL’s most feared quarterbacks in 1989-90. Whether you credit Chuck Knox’s ball-control offense, new quarterback coach Ted Tollner or the Ram leader’s determination and work ethic, Everett has been putting up some amazing numbers. His 21 completions in 32 attempts for 248 yards and one touchdown performance Sunday in the loss to Phoenix, further demonstrated his return to form. And, with a little more help from his receivers--they dropped at least three passes right in their hands--the statistics would have been more imposing. In nine games, he has completed 61.2 per cent of his passes--150 of 245--for 1,810 yards and 12 touchdowns. SEASON TO DATE Nine-Game Totals (Record: 3-6) First Downs RAMS: 146 OPP: 176 Rushing Yards RAMS: 896 OPP: 1,309 Passing Yards RAMS: 1,820 OPP: 1,791 Punts/Average RAMS: 43/41.9 OPP: 36/42.6 Rushing RAMS: ATT: 215 AVG: 4.2 TDs: 7 OPP: ATT: 261 AVG: 5.0 TDs: 12 Passing RAMS: ATT: 247 CP: 151 TDs: 12 OPP: ATT: 290 CP: 172 TDs: 7 Penalties/Yards RAMS: 50/355 OPP: 67/513 Fumbles/Lost RAMS: 17/10 OPP: 13/6 Interceptions/Yds RAMS: 12/207 OPP: 10/196 Scoring by Quarters
1 2 3 4 OT TOTAL RAMS 7 50 52 54 0 163 OPP 65 42 23 53 0 183
Possession Time RAMS: 27:43 OPP: 32:17
