Faulk says Colts provoke no ill feelings

ST. LOUIS -- Marshall Faulk concedes that he couldn't have predicted the St. Louis Rams' stunning success since he arrived from the Indianapolis Colts in 1999.

The Rams won the Super Bowl in Faulk's first season, he was league MVP last year and at 12-2 St. Louis is again closing in on home-field advantage in the playoffs heading into the running back's first game against his old team. If they beat the Colts (5-9) and the Chicago Bears are upset in Detroit on Sunday, St. Louis will clinch the NFC West and the top seed in the conference.

When Faulk arrived in St. Louis, the Rams had endured nine consecutive losing seasons and were coming off a 4-12 record. He was one of the keys; the other was the discovery of quarterback Kurt Warner after Trent Green was injured.

"It's one of those things," Faulk said. "You get a bunch of people together and they gel and you have what we have here now."

So he insists, there's no looking back. Faulk, who played for the Colts for his first five seasons after being taken with the second overall pick of the 1994 draft, said this game holds no special significance.

Even if the Colts unloaded Faulk and his salary for second- and fifth-round draft picks so they could draft Edgerrin James and make him the featured back.

"It's another game we have to win," Faulk said. "It's a story. It's bad news, so it's good news."

Teammates haven't sensed any extra emphasis on this week from Faulk.

"I think Marshall's happy to be here and excited about what he's got with this situation," Warner said. "I don't think there's a whole lot of animosity."

Faulk said he keeps in touch with some of his ex-teammates in Indianapolis. He's highly complimentary of fellow New Orleans native Peyton Manning, who was a rookie in 1998, Faulk's final season in Indianapolis.

"Watching him now and then, it's nice to see someone go through a learning process," Faulk said. "He busts his butt out there to succeed. It was a pleasure playing with him."

Faulk had little to say about playing for Colts coach Jim Mora because, as he remembers it, most of his contact was with offensive coordinator Tom Moore.

"I don't have anything to prove to them," Faulk said. "I wasn't bitter with them about anything and I understood the move they made and the things they were deciding to do.

"We were just going in different directions and that was that."

Faulk now has the best of both worlds. He's one of the NFL's best players on one of the league's best teams.

"If you don't make it to the postseason, you're an elite player for like 16 games, then once that's over they don't talk about you anymore," Faulk said. "So quickly you understand the emphasis of getting to the playoffs and not just getting to the playoffs but winning and not just winning but the big games.

"I've been fortunate to have been on a team that did that and to be surrounded by some guys who are working towards doing it again."

Faulk is coming off his third career 200-yard rushing day in last week's 38-32 victory over the Carolina Panthers.

Despite missing two games with a knee injury, Faulk leads the NFL with 16 touchdowns and is third in the NFC in total yards from scrimmage with 1,756.

"He never stops amazing me," quarterback Kurt Warner said. "If he could throw the ball, I might be extinct."

Faulk, who has had 77 carries the last three games along with 16 receptions, doesn't mind the work load.

"Whatever we have to do," he said. "Whatever I have to do to help this team win, that's just it."