One-sided loss a crucible of learning for Long's NFL debut

PHILADELPHIA

Somewhere down the road, the St. Louis Rams surely will have terrific Long afternoons, games in which their new defensive end from the University of Virginia will shine, true to his talent and bloodline.

Sunday was not one of those games.

Sunday was just an incredibly lon-n-n-g afternoon for the Rams - emphasis very much on the lowercase L. Significant difference there.

The occasion of Chris Long's NFL debut was marked by the Philadelphia Eagles tearing apart the Rams horn from hoof at Lincoln Financial Field, 38-3. Long, son of Hall of Famer Howie Long, tried hard. His reputation at and coming out of U.Va. was founded on his prodigious want-to.

Long's stuck-open throttle is a big reason why the pitiful Rams chose him second in the draft. All that meant Sunday was that Eagles' left tackle Tra Thomas, Long's foil 95 percent of the day, had to breathe hard now and then.

"He gave me some work, man," said Thomas, an 11-year veteran with three Pro Bowls on his resume. "I was tired. And he just kept letting me know that he's not tired yet. It was a good test for me."

Final score aside, it was good for Long, too. Not by any statistical measure, just as an introduction to life with the big boys. Long played practically every snap and rarely laid a glove on any Eagle other than Thomas. He scrambled down the line to record two tackles, both on running back Brian Westbrook.

If you want numbers, those are it. Long spent the rest of the day losing hand fights with Thomas and vainly lunging toward Donovan McNabb, whom he never touched when the quarterback still had the ball.

Once, Long almost got there - third down, Eagles on their 10-yard line, a minute left in the first half. From right end, Long lowered his shoulders and careened around Thomas' left side.

Just as McNabb released the pass, Long dived at his ankles. Life really is all about timing: seconds later, receiver Hank Baskett was sprinting to the end zone with what became a 90-yard touchdown pass.

"I got up and my first thought was 'Damn it, I should've got there,' " Long said. "My second thought was that's McNabb. That's what he does."

Consider that one lesson Long doesn't have to learn. Pretty much everything else is on the table, though, and the NFL is the most accelerated of classrooms.

Next week comes the defending Super Bowl champ Giants and six-year left tackle David Diehl. Long's two left tackles after that are Seattle's Walter Jones, who has only been to seven straight Pro Bowls, and Buffalo's Jason Peters, who went last year.

Long is 6-foot-3 and 263 pounds. He gave away four inches and 70 pounds to Thomas. Long will spot Jones two inches and 60 pounds, Peters, an inch and 80 pounds.

This is how it will be. But it is also how it is for such sack specialists as Dwight Freeney and Osi Umenyiora, who are roughly Long's size. They figured it out. Thomas fully expects Long will, too.

Thomas told Long so after the game, when he sought him out before the players left the field and gave him a hug. That, though, was all he gave Long.

"I learned my lesson," Thomas said with a laugh. "When I played against Osi his rookie year, I was giving him pointers and all that. And then he came back and was giving me all this work, you know. So now I just kind of bite my tongue.

"It's like, I want to tell you stuff, but I can't because I might see you again. I just told him he had a good game and to just keep working."

No worries there with Long, even more so because of the attention he faces as the No. 2 pick. But Long was in on just four tackles in the preseason. Now, this debut in which he mostly cycled in place while the Rams' defense, which never did get to McNabb, got torched.

Long needs to buckle in. His ride on the learning curve looks like it will be bumpy.

"I've got one job and that's to be a part of this defense and make plays and do what's defined by my coaches," Long said. "You're not gonna see me trying to play up to stats. The higher I can grade out on Monday in the privacy of the D-line room, that's when I'm succeeding."

Tom Robinson, (757) 446-2518, tom.robinson@pilotonline.com