PRO FOOTBALL / DAILY REPORT : RAMS : Gary to Share Playing Time

Coach Chuck Knox said Thursday he would start tailback Cleveland Gary on Sunday in Green Bay, a week after Gary fumbled for the seventh and eighth times this season.

But Knox also acknowledged that Anthony Thompson and David Lang have been getting extra snaps at tailback this week and will probably play Sunday, in weather that is expected to be sub-freezing.

Gary needs 19 yards to become the first Ram since Greg Bell in 1989 to gain 1,000 yards in a season.

“We’re going to go with Cleveland,” Knox said. “We’ll start him . . . and we’ll see.

“Anthony Thompson’s from Indiana, he’s been in that kind of weather. But I think Cleveland will be all right. I’d like to see David Lang, get him some work in there.”

Does Knox think Gary has recovered from last Sunday’s two-fumble experience?

“I think he has,” Knox said. “He’s not lacking for confidence.”

Although Knox has coached 300 regular-season games, this will be his first as a head coach at Green Bay’s Lambeau Field, and Thursday he was in a rare bouncy mood as he anticipated it.

Knox has led five teams in to play Green Bay in Milwaukee but has coached only as an assistant with Detroit at Lambeau Field.

“Last report I had was (the temperature will be) in the 20s, and it was supposed to be clear,” Knox said, before dropping his punch line.

“And the other thing is, the press box is booked and the media’s going to have to sit outside. So you better bring your stuff with you.”