RAM NOTEBOOK : Delpino Dislikes Sideline View

Robert Delpino, who has fought his entire NFL career to be listed as something more than a reserve, isn’t enjoying life on injured reserve, either.

Before the season, Delpino, the Rams’ most valuable player last year, had missed only two games in his four-year NFL career.

This week, because of a strained left knee that hasn’t healed, Delpino is watching his current absent string go from four to five missed games.

To make matters more frustrating, second-year man David Lang has stepped confidently into the fullback spot, chipping in a spectacular 67-yard touchdown reception Sunday--the team’s longest play from scrimmage this season.

Delpino, who came into this season vying with Cleveland Gary for the starting tailback spot and had to settle for the fullback position, now is on the sideline watching the position being played by someone who obviously has caught the coaching staff’s eye.

“That’s not my position anymore,” Delpino said Wednesday of Gary’s success at tailback. “David Lang, that’s what I’m worrying about now. He’s been playing great ball.”

And a few players, most notably receiver Flipper Anderson, are definitely letting Delpino hear about Lang’s impressive performances.

“Oh, Flipper’s just killing me,” Delpino said of Anderson’s teasing. “They’re getting me. They know they can get me. I’ve just got to laugh.”

But the real frustration, Delpino said, beyond worrying if his job will be waiting for him when he’s ready to come back, is not being able to suit up and join his teammates in action for such an extended period of time.

Ram Coach Chuck Knox has a policy of not bringing players who are on injured reserve along on trips, so Delpino was not at the Georgia Dome Sunday for the team’s loss to the Atlanta Falcons.

“Besides (Lang’s play), besides the fact that he’s been playing great ball, it’s just getting out there--I’ve missed it,” Delpino said.

“Never in my career have I been out a month. I’m just not used to this thing. These are hard times. I thought I’d be ready to go.

“The frustration has built up to the point where I want to play this week, but I just can’t take the chance with this knee.”

Right after the injury--suffered Oct. 4 against the 49ers--Delpino was walking around Rams Park relatively smoothly, and said he planned to be back for this week’s game against the Phoenix Cardinals, a team against which he gained 191 yards from scrimmage last season.

But Wednesday, Delpino conceded that the forecast was not too sunny.

“Even if it was the Super Bowl, I don’t think I’d take the chance on it this week,” Delpino said. “If it was ready, I’d be the first one in there. But the knee’s just not ready to go now.”

Delpino did some light jogging during Wednesday’s practice for the first time since the injury, and said he’s now planning to make his return next week against the Dallas Cowboys.

“Phoenix and the Giants are always my big games,” Delpino said. “I want to be in there. I was looking forward to it, like perfect timing, I was eligible to come off this week . . . it would’ve been perfect.

“Not to be, I guess.”

Another running back still biding his time, but without a knee injury to explain his absence, is Anthony Thompson, who was claimed off waivers Sept. 16.

With Gary on pace to be the Rams’ first 1,000-yard rusher in three seasons, there has been no opportunity for a backup to get some carries.

But this week, if Knox is even a minor fan of a good story line, it could be the perfect time to let Thompson play.

The Cardinals used a second-round pick on Thompson in 1990, gave him the ball 232 times in two seasons, but lost confidence in him and released him right before the Rams claimed him.

“I know my chance is going to come,” Thompson said Wednesday. “I just have to be patient.

“It’s been frustrating at times, but I know I’ve just got to keep my head up, keep working hard in practice and working on things I can control--and that’s staying in shape, working in the weight room, working here on the field, saying a lot of prayers, asking the Lord to help me keep the frustration away. So with that, I’ve been pretty good.”

Thompson said he still keeps in touch with a lot of Cardinal players, goes back to Phoenix often, and might get some interesting phone calls this week.

“I’ve got a couple buddies who I think will probably call, want to make a couple wagers,” Thompson said, grinning.

What rumors? Phoenix Coach Joe Bugel, in his third year with the Cardinals, has heard plenty of whispers recently that he was about to be dispatched to the land of unemployed coaches.

First the guillotine was going to come down at the bye week, when the team was 0-3. It didn’t. Then it was going to fall if the Cardinals lost their next one, but Phoenix shocked the world by beating the Redskins that week.

Now, even after the Cardinals’ stirring 10-point upset of the San Francisco 49ers last week, the speculation is Bugel might go at the end of the season if the team doesn’t finish strong.

He says even though his team is just 2-6, he doesn’t care what the talk is.

“I don’t let it carry over to the team,” Bugel said during a conference call with local reporters Wednesday. “Anything negative in the paper, I use it as a motivational tool.”