Wondering about Warner

After Rams lose opener, uncertainty is the only certainty we have

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. -- Just when everybody thought they were ready to make up their minds about Kurt Warner -- is he or isn't he all the way back from his miserable, injury-plagued 2002 season? -- Sunday's surprising turn of events means the St. Louis Rams' starting quarterback could be gone once again.

Some 75 minutes after Warner and the Rams lost 23-13 to the New York Giants in their season opener at Giants Stadium, his dreadful, turnover-strewn performance was juxtaposed against the news that he had sustained a concussion -- probably very early in the game -- and would be held overnight for observation and a neurological exam at New York's Cornell Medical Center.

"He's got a concussion ... and they're concerned because he's nauseated and he's got severe headaches,'' said Rams head coach Mike Martz, who spoke to the media just after Warner left Giants Stadium for the hospital via ambulance. "He just wasn't himself. He looked confused when you gave him a play. I shouldn't have played him. In retrospect, I regret playing him. But the doctors cleared him. I don't know. The doctors are fine with it, and I'm sure he'll be fine.''

Warner's status won't be known until he undergoes a CAT scan Sunday night, but the Rams no doubt will be cautious, even though this is Warner's first known concussion since he suffered one in the final regular-season game of 2000 at New Orleans. Warner returned from that injury just six days later to again play the Saints in the NFC wild-card round. Warner, who did not speak with the media after the game, is expected to fly home to St. Louis on Monday.

Warner complained of headaches at halftime and was examined by team physician Bernard Garfinkel. Martz said he didn't know about Warner's condition until being informed on the field just before the opening of the third quarter.

"His headaches are a lot better, and he's got some mild nausea,'' Garfinkel said after examining Warner in the Rams' postgame locker room. "We just want to be safe. We don't want to put him in an airplane [to St. Louis], so we decided to get a CAT scan and watch him overnight.

"He felt fine [in the second half] and I talked to him several times in the third quarter. He didn't start feeling bad in the locker room until after he got dressed. ... I don't think he was any worse [for playing after the concussion]. I think what he's having now is the results of the initial concussion.''

Though no one is certain when Warner was dealt the blow to the head, Martz believes Warner sustained the concussion early in the first quarter, on St. Louis' second possession, when he was sacked by Giants defensive end Michael Strahan. He fumbled on the play -- one of his six fumbles in the game, three of which he lost -- but the ball was recovered by Rams left tackle Orlando Pace.

"I guess on that sack he got hit in the head pretty good,'' Martz said. "We couldn't figure out why he was having such a hard time getting plays in. ... Right after that sack, he was hearing it, but he wasn't sorting it out. I didn't know what was going on. I thought we had a communication problem.''

All in all, it was a very confusing day for Warner, and Warner-watchers, making it almost impossible to make any definitive judgment about his season-opening performance.

On one hand, Warner actually played better in the second half, after suffering the concussion and feeling the onset of some symptoms. He had just one of his six fumbles in the second half and tossed his only interception late in the third quarter, after rookie receiver Shaun McDonald slipped running his pattern. He was 19 of 27 in the second half, with 186 of his 342 passing yards, and just one of his six total sacks.

But overall his game exhibited many of the same problems he had last season, when he battled hand problems and looked like a shell of the two-time NFL MVP that he was from 1999-2001. Under a heavy rush throughout the game, Warner repeatedly failed to take care of the football and had it stripped five times in the first half alone, one resulting in the Giants' first touchdown. Warner's six fumbles tied for the second most in an NFL game.

"We've got to protect the football better,'' said Martz when he met the media for the first time in the postgame setting, before announcing Warner's concussion. "And we've got to protect him better. He's got to get rid of the football. He knows that better than anyone.''

His concussion aside for the moment, when it comes to the debate regarding Warner's status, here are the shocking but pertinent facts: He hasn't won a game as a starter since the NFC Championship Game after the 2001 season -- 20 long, sobering months ago.

In the days since that 29-24 defeat of Philadelphia in January 2002, Warner lost the Super Bowl to New England, lost all six of his starts last year and is now 0-1 in a 2003 season that had looked so promising. That's 0-for-his-last-8 if you're counting, as Rams fans and Martz most assuredly are.

Before news of Warner's concussion broke, Martz was asked if he considered yanking his struggling starting quarterback at any point Sunday. He said no, but the story won't go away until Warner's A game returns.

Sunday in no way put the Rams' quarterback situation to rest. Thanks to Warner's eventful performance and concussion, the debate that looked settled over the course of the six-week preseason came roaring back to life in the span of one afternoon.

You remember Marc Bulger, right? Warner's newest health problem only increases the chances that Bulger will be given another shot early this season.

But the most vexing problem is that we all remember the vintage Warner, and we haven't seen him for a long time. Yes, the Rams' offensive line bears some of the blame for not protecting their quarterback well. But you can't help but wonder what happened to the calm, cool pinpoint passer who cut his teeth on standing tall in the pocket while the madness that is Arena Football swirled around him.

Where's the Kurt Warner who better than anyone seemed to deal with pass pressure while delivering the ball with precision, while all hell broke loose up front? More and more, and Sunday's concussion makes any conclusion premature, it seems as if the speed of the NFL game is more than Warner can handle right now. His ball-handling skills are sloppy at best, and his reactions indicate he's consistently surprised by how quickly the pass rush gets on him.

Is Warner back? Well, yes and no. Is he coming or going? Right now, a little bit of both. In ways we didn't foresee, Sunday seemed the perfect summation of the uncertainty the Rams and the rest of us feel about their star quarterback. We still don't know much of anything.

At the end of the day, when it comes to Warner, that's the only certainty we have.

Don Banks covers pro football for SI.com.