Rams' new coach Haslett names Bulger starter
Sports Network | September 30, 2008
St. Louis, MO (Sports Network) - St. Louis Rams quarterback Marc Bulger was named the starter for the remainder of the season by new head coach Jim Haslett on Tuesday.
The move comes one day after Haslett replaced Scott Linehan, who was let go amid a dismal 0-4 start to the season. Linehan benched Bulger last week in favor of Trent Green but the Rams still lost to Buffalo, 31-14.
"(Bulger) is going to be the quarterback and he will be the starting quarterback for the rest of the year unless something happens," Haslett said. "I talked to (Bulger) and (Green) about it, and it is more of a gut feeling on my part. I talked to most of the offensive coaches and everybody involved and I thought (Bulger) would give us the best opportunity to win games for the next three months."
Bulger threw for 519 yards and two touchdowns, with two interceptions through the first three games before being benched. In July 2007, the quarterback was signed to a six-year, $65 million extension that made him the highest paid player in franchise history.
"I knew at sometime I was going to be back, sooner rather than later," Bulger said. "(Haslett) told me this morning before practice. I think he just wanted to get me back in there and in the rhythm of things."
Haslett also revealed that tight end Randy McMichael will miss at least eight weeks after suffering a broken tibia.
"His (McMichael) injury will probably be a minimum eight weeks and hopefully not longer, but we'll decide here in the next couple days," Haslett said. "Normally, it's a six-week injury, but he has a couple other things. It could be something that we could wait on or it could be that we put him on (injured reserve)."
