Concussion to Warner brews up another QB controversy

ST. LOUIS -- One week into the season, the Rams have a quarterback controversy.

Kurt Warner's comeback got off to a rocky start when he played through a concussion in the season-opening loss to the New York Giants.

Healthy or not, he won't start Sunday against the San Francisco 49ers, Marc Bulger will.

The two-time MVP said he felt fine Monday, a day after his fog-induced, error-filled performance in the 23-13 loss. After being released from a New York hospital earlier Monday, Warner ran and worked out in St. Louis, and he wants to play on Sunday.

Doctors in New York told Warner he probably could practice Wednesday, although team medical personnel will be more cautious.

"I think I should play," Warner said in a conference call with reporters. "As long as the doctors clear me, I'll be ready to go."

Not so fast.

Coach Mike Martz blames himself for allowing Warner to slowly clear his head while fumbling six times and getting sacked six times, and said he'll take a safety-first approach on Sunday. So Bulger, the backup who was 6-1 as the Rams' starter last year, will get the call.

"This week I'm going to play Marc," Martz said. "I think we can go one week, and make sure. He's upset about probably going with Marc but I think it's probably the best thing at this point."

Martz said it's way too soon to talk about whether it's still Warner's job to lose.

"I don't want to get into all of that right now," Martz said. "Let's just take it one week at a time at this point.

"I don't know what the medical staff will say at the end of the week and I don't know how he's going to be at the end of the week, so if that ever becomes an issue we'll address it."

Warner, the MVP in 1999 and 2001, was 0-6 with three touchdown passes and 11 interceptions last year while missing time with a broken pinkie and hand. He doesn't appear worried about the competition.

"This isn't about me and Marc, this is about the team," Warner said. "This is about doing what's best for our team."

Warner's status far overshadowed several other concerns at Rams Park, relegating Martz' questionable play-calling to the second half of his weekly news conference. Martz disdained field goals twice on fourth-and-long in the fourth quarter, decisions that haunted him the following day.

"It's probably as bad a game as I've called since I've been here," Martz said.

The Rams believe Warner's concussion occurred on the first sack, which came on their second pass play when Giants lineman Michael Strahan collared him and stripped him of the ball with 8:34 to go in the first quarter.

On his first seven pass plays, Martz said Warner made five errors in judgment.

"He hasn't done that his whole time here," Martz said. "It's just not like him."

But Martz wasn't ready to yank Warner until the start of the second half, when the quarterback was cleared to continue by the team's medical staff. By that time, Warner said, he was feeling much better.

In the second half, Warner was 19-for-27 for 186 yards and a perfectly thrown 37-yard touchdown pass to Torry Holt in the fourth quarter.

"The first half he seemed a little goofy," Martz said. "He didn't appear normal, is probably the best way to put it."

Warner doesn't regret finishing the game because the symptoms of the concussion had subsided.

"You come back and watch the film and there were things on there that aren't typical of me, things I don't normally do," Warner said. "The second half I felt good, felt really good."

Warner said this concussion doesn't come close to the one he had at the end of the 2000 season when hit by the Willie Whitehead of New Orleans. Warner played the following week in a wildcard playoff loss, but was still feeling aftereffects several months later.

This time he had a headache and nausea in the locker room after the game, but felt fine by the time he got to the hospital.

"Compared to what I've had in the past, this was extremely, extremely mild," Warner said. "The symptoms dissipated much more quickly than anything I've experienced before."