Monday, Aug. 17, 2009

Rams rookie quarterback Keith Null glad to take his first snaps

He threw touchdown pass in win over Jets

ST. LOUIS -- There was no time for St. Louis Rams rookie quarterback Keith Null to get any butterflies in his stomach.

Null entered the Rams' 23-20 win over the New York Jets on Friday night after quarterback Brock Berlin injured his knee being tackled to the turf on an incomplete pass with 9:41 left in the fourth quarter.

"I didn't have any time to get nervous, that's for sure," Null said. "I knew I was going in a series or two later, and then all of the sudden he went down, and I had to pop right in. I just got out there and went at it."

Null, a sixth-round pick in the 2009 NFL Draft out of West Texas A&M, completed both of his pass attempts in the game. He threw a 3-yard pass to Chris Ogbonnaya and later threw a 13-yard touchdown pass to Sean Walker.

"I think with every player, you get out there and you're just playing football again just like you always have," Null said. "That's what it was like for me."

Null threw for a school-record 5,097 yards and 48 touchdown passes as a senior last season at West Texas A&M, but now he's trying to prove that the NFL isn't too big for him.

"I definitely feel like I can play at this level," Null said. "The more that I am here, the more that I am practicing and getting better. I keep getting more and more comfortable with everything."

Coming from a Division II college, Null must have felt like he was entering a new world when he walked down the tunnel to the field at Giants Stadium.

The largest crowd to watch him play last season was slightly under 19,000.

"It was crazy," Null said. "It was the first time I had been on the field in a stadium that big. For the first time walking out for a pro football game, it was unbelievable."

Null admits having a split personality. He's quiet and unassuming off the field, but his demeanor changes when walks onto the field.

"When you get on the field, some people just become a different person," Null said. "I'm one of those game type of people. I love getting out there. It's just an attitude switch for me.

"I'm calm out there, and I just try to go out and do my thing."

Playing in a spread offense at West Texas A&M, the 6-foot-4, 219-pound Null put up some gaudy numbers. He completed 42 of 63 passes for 595 yards and seven touchdowns and no interceptions in the Buffaloes' 93-68 loss to Abilene Christian in the second round of the Division II playoffs last year.

Null said he's had to work hard on his footwork coming out of the spread offense.

"There really aren't any five- or seven-step drops in the spread," Null said. "I worked on that after the season leading up to the draft, so when I got here, it definitely was a lot easier. It wasn't brand new to me."

Null said he was familiar with the play that resulted in his first touchdown pass as an NFL player.

"I got up there and made my read and threw it," Null said. "It was actually one of the plays we ran in college, so I was sort of used to that one."

Rams starting quarterback Marc Bulger retrieved the keepsake football for Null.

"That just shows how awesome he is taking care of a rookie when he didn't have to do that," Null said of Bulger. "That didn't even cross my mind. I was jogging off to the sideline all pumped and high-fiving everybody.

"I didn't even think about the ball. He went and got it for me."

Null said one of the Rams' equipment managers currently had the ball.

"I really don't know what I am going to do with it yet," Null said. "I'm definitely going to take it home and try to keep it in good condition."

Rams notes

The wide receiving corps was down to seven healthy players as Brooks Foster and Tim Carter joined Donnie Avery on the sideline.

Rams coach Steve Spagnuolo said Foster has a sprained ankle that will keep him out 2-to-4 weeks, while Carter has a groin injury that will keep him out 10 days to two weeks.

* Mark Setterstrom was working at right guard with Jacob Bell sidelined by a concussion.

"He was still a little bit foggy today, so their not going to take their chances," Spagnuolo said.

* Quarterback Brock Berlin was able to participate in practice on a limited basis. He wore a brace on the knee that has a sprained MCL.