Faulk will play in final games, but 1,000-yard streak in limbo

ST. LOUIS -- Marshall Faulk needs just 103 yards the last two games for his sixth straight 1,000-yard season. But that might be tough, given that he'll miss his sixth straight start on Sunday.

Faulk is listed as probable with a high right ankle sprain for the Rams' game at Seattle.

"They've recommended he stay off the ankle most of the week because it just continues to aggravate it," coach Mike Martz said Wednesday. "He'll be in much better condition to play on Sunday and he'll play the last two games.

"It's just a matter of pain tolerance, which he's always been able to deal with in fine fashion."

Faulk had 39 yards on 11 carries last week against Arizona. In three games since he returned to the lineup as a reserve since the Nov. 10 injury, he's totaled 81 yards on 28 attempts.

Trung Canidate, a first-round pick in 2000 who was the third stringer most of the year behind rookie Lamar Gordon, will get his first start of the year. Martz was unhappy with Gordon's tentative running in the Rams' 30-28 victory Sunday over the Cardinals, costing the team two first downs, but revealed Wednesday that Gordon had been bothered by shoulder and neck injuries.

"He was reluctant to say anything during the game," Martz said. "I wish he had, obviously, but he didn't want to let anybody down.

"I told him when those things happen you've got to let us know."

Rookie cornerback Travis Fisher (shoulder) also was listed as probable, while tight end Ernie Conwell (thigh) and linebacker Tommy Polley (ankle) were questionable. Martz said Conwell should be able to play despite a bruise that "looks like a sunset in Hawaii."

Polley missed last week's game with a sprained ankle, but also is expected to play.