Called upon - Chandler will start for injured Bulger

Chris Chandler will start for injured Bulger on Sunday

By R.B. Fallstrom ~ The Associated Press

ST. LOUIS -- For at least another week, the St. Louis Rams' offense will be in the hands of a 39-year-old quarterback. Good thing Chris Chandler, the backup to the injured Marc Bulger, doesn't feel his age.

"I feel very much like I always have, since I first came into the league," Chandler said. "I'll tell you what, you only get one chance to play this game and when it's over, it's over.

"I'm getting close to that time, so every time I'm out there I just try to have fun."

Bulger sprained his right shoulder on a sack by Bryant Young with 1:40 left in the first quarter of Sunday's 16-6 victory over the 49ers. The injury is identical to one he sustained at Miami Oct. 24, when he would have missed one week except the Rams (6-6) had a bye.

Coach Mike Martz said Monday that Bulger, who had led the NFL in passing yards before Sunday, didn't completely recover from the earlier injury until last week.

"There is a little bit of swelling in the joint, but there's no damage evidently to the ligaments that hold the joint together, which is terrific," Martz said. "Hopefully we'll get him back in short order, but we'll have to see."

Chandler was 18-for-27 for 216 yards and his first touchdown pass in more than a year. He'll be making his 151st career start for an NFL-record seven teams, and that includes an earlier stint in 1994 with the Rams when Martz was the team's quarterback coach.

The Rams mustered only one touchdown, and Martz expects better production after Chandler has had a week to practice with the starters. Since the regular season began, he's mostly been running the scout team.

Chandler has had an injury-plagued career, never playing a full season. But he's been to two Pro Bowls and led the Falcons to a Super Bowl in 1998 after being a third-round pick of the Colts in 1988.

"You try to watch the game from the sidelines and get the coverages and the angles and everything, but it's a lot different under center," Chandler said. "I think I started going too fast at the beginning and I almost felt like a rookie again."

Martz said Chandler quickly lost the jitters.

"Boy, once he settled down I thought he was terrific," Martz said. "I don't worry about Chris, he'll play very well this week."

For however long Bulger is sidelined, Martz is leaning heavily on the experience factor. The Rams on Monday signed Jamie Martin, who's been out of the NFL since being cut by the Jets in October 2003, and intend for him to be the backup.

Martin, 34, also played for the Rams from 1993 to '96 and from 2001 to '02, so he's familiar with the system.

Martz said it's too much to expect third-string quarterback Jeff Smoker, a rookie who was the team's sixth-round pick, to be able to do much in his complicated system.

"If we were out of this thing, if we were a bad team, then maybe you go with a rookie," Martz said. "But we're not going with a rookie.

"I hope that Jamie can get himself ready and in the meantime, Smoke may have to do some of that stuff."

There'll be one other lineup change on offense, with offensive tackle Blaine Saipaia replacing struggling Grant Williams after playing most of the second half on Sunday. Williams has been burned repeatedly in recent weeks and he got beat by Young on the sack that knocked Bulger out of the game.

Martz said Williams has been dogged by injuries to his shoulder and elbow that have robbed him of his mobility.

"You can see it when you watch him set, he tries to compensate," Martz said. "When you're trying to compensate then it's time to really change.

"He began to really struggle and we needed to get him out of the game."

At running back the Rams might give banged-up Marshall Faulk, who has a bruised left knee, another week to rest. Rookie Steven Jackson, the team's first-round pick, ran for 119 yards on 26 carries on Sunday in his first full game.

Faulk dressed but did not play against the 49ers and Martz said he'd be held out of practice much of the week.

"Anytime it's a bruise like that, the more time you let him rest, of course the better off you are," Martz said.