It's been tough so far for Rams rookie Farmer

MACOMB, Ill. -- Marc Bulger can feel Kirk Farmer's pain.

Bulger emerged as a star backup quarterback with the Rams last year, leading the team to six straight victories after Kurt Warner was sidelined by injuries. Before that, though, he was Mike Martz' whipping boy in practice.

The perfectionist coach, widely regarded as a quarterback guru, never hesitated to heap abuse on the young player.

"I don't think there is a look in his eye like he wants to kill me anymore," Bulger said. "He just wants to yell at me.

"I honestly thought he wanted to kill me a couple of times in the past."

Before that, Warner felt the slings and arrows as an obscure third-stringer. Well, now it's Farmer's turn.

The former Missouri quarterback was booted out of the huddle two times by Martz in the first three practices. At one point, the coach was heard to say, "You stink," to Farmer.

The team's afternoon workout on Friday was a first for Farmer because he didn't get kicked out. But that doesn't mean Martz is happy.

"He made it through practice," Martz said. "I think young quarterbacks, in my opinion, feel like, 'What are you getting so excited about?'

"If you allow them to practice and work at their pace, then that's what they'll do and three or four years from now they might be ready."

Farmer is accustomed to adversity after losing his starting job to redshirt freshman Brad Smith his senior year at Missouri. He said he doesn't mind the abuse.

"I don't want him to yell at me, but I want him to coach me up and tell me when I do something the slightest bit wrong," Farmer said. "I don't want him to lay off and not coach me."

Battling for No. 3

Farmer, who's battling left-hander Greg Zolman for the third-string job, knows all too well that silence would not be good. That would mean Martz is losing interest in his prospects.

"If he's not saying anything, it's a bad sign," Farmer said. "I want him to be tough on me like he's been.

"Hopefully it means he's got confidence in me and wants me to get better and that's all I can ask for, really."

There's no letup in Martz' game plan for molding the most important player on the field. He'll keep driving Farmer until he becomes a player he can count on, or washes out like Joe Germaine did two years ago.

When Farmer fumbled a snap on the first day, it was telling to Martz that the quarterback didn't blame the center even though it wasn't his fault.

"You put as much stress on as you can and see if they can deal with the stress," Martz said.

Farmer said he can take it all.

"He throws me out of the huddle, it puts pressure on me that I don't think I can get anywhere else," Farmer said. "I think it's good for me that he's as tough as he can be."