By Brett Grassmuck

Staff Writer

 

Although it may not feel like it, it’s been eight years since Trent Green put on his St. Louis Rams jersey, and the quarterback has had to make a few adjustments upon his return to his hometown.

 

“I’m one spot away from my old locker,” Green said. “One spot away and two spots from my old number, so that’s an adjustment I’ve had to make. Every time I hear someone reference No. 10, I automatically turn around. So that’s been new for me, but it’s good. It’s good to be back.”

 

Green is also one spot away from the starting lineup as he will serve as backup to quarterback Marc Bulger, a role he hasn’t had to play for quite a while, but one he is looking forward to.

 

“It’s been probably 10 years or so since I had that role, and I’m trying to acclimate a little bit to it,” Green said. “Also, I want to share my experiences with it as well. I know Marc’s been in this offense, so he and I communicate a great deal. We’re trying to talk as much as we can with Brock ( Berlin ) and get the receivers and backs and linemen and everybody on the same page. I think it’s been really good, the communication that all of us have had and just trying to share those experiences in this offense.”

 

There have been quite a few changes since Green’s last stay in St. Louis . Even the training facility has a new name (the former Rams Park is now the Russell Training Center), but there are a few things that remain the same, one being offensive coordinator Al Saunders who was also with the Rams during the Super Bowl season and made his return to St. Louis this offseason.

 

“Obviously the staff is quite a bit different,” Green said. “I know Al Saunders is back, and (QB coach) Terry Shea I’ve been with a long time in Kansas City and in Miami , but all the other coaches have changed. The personalities are different. A lot of the staff is the same, the trainers, equipment guys, so those are people I’m familiar with. So, it’s been good to get caught up with them again. But overall, the staff has changed quite a bit.”

 

The locker room is also very different from Green’s first run with the Rams, but there are a few familiar faces that he is happy to be reunited with.

 

“It has been some time,” Green said. “With free agency the way that it is and with a coaching change, there’s generally some turnover trying to get guys to fit your scheme. It is nice to be back with Torry (Holt) and Leonard (Little) and Orlando (Pace) and obviously reunited with Dante (Hall) from my time in Kansas City . Marc and I were here for a few months together. They brought him in the 2000 season, so we’ve known each other for quite some time.”

 

Green knows what the team went through last season and feels the energy and excitement for 2008. And even though he sees how people can compare this season to 1999, he’s not ready to make the comparison himself, although he’s hoping for similar results.

 

“I don’t want to put that type of pressure on this year’s team,” Green said. “(In 1999) They changed offensive coordinators, changed some faces and the next thing happens, we win the Super Bowl. As good as we thought we were going to be that year, I don’t think anybody could have predicted that type of success. So I can see where people want to draw the comparisons. I think there’s a lot of energy, a lot of excitement. But to put that type of pressure on this team, we’re all hoping that happens. That’s what our goal is. That’s what everybody’s goal is, to have that type of success.”

 

PACE PROGRESSING

 

After suffering a torn labrum and rotator cuff in his right shoulder in the 2007 season opener, left tackle Orlando Pace is back on the field for Rams mini-camp.

 

“Last year was a rough year,” Pace said. “When you are in your 12th year, you kind of get used to things, but not when you have been injured for the past year and a half or so. The way I felt going into last season, I had a different desire and a different hunger and a different purpose for playing. I feel that same way this year.”

 

Pace isn’t quite 100 percent, and he has been limited to individual drills in camp as he continues to rehab his shoulder, but he is hoping to be ready for training camp in July.

“Hopefully I’ll be ready for training camp, but who knows,” Pace said. “We’ll see what the doctors say and what the coaches say and what we think and go from there.”

 

Maybe when his playing career is finished, Pace could look into a job as a stand-up comedian as he had reporters in stitches with several funny anecdotes during his press conference.

 

Pace was asked what he knew about new Ram Jacob Bell, and he conceded that he wasn’t too familiar with the guard.

“I know he made me feel old during his press conference when he said he watched me as a kid at Ohio State ,” Pace said. “That is about it.”

 

Pace also weighed in on how the rookie offensive linemen were progressing.

 

“One of them brought me a breakfast sandwich this morning, so from that standpoint I think they are doing pretty good,” Pace quipped. “I think they will be fine. Right now is kind of a tough time since their heads are swimming with so much information and so many different things they are implementing into the offense. I have been there before and I know how it is. I think they will be fine.”