Gordon ready for another start for Faulk

ST. LOUIS -- Rookie Lamar Gordon is recovered from a concussion and ready to be the Rams' stand-in starter for the third straight week in case Marshall Faulk is out again.

Coach Mike Martz said Friday he'd wait until game day to decide whether Faulk, who has a high ankle sprain on his right leg, will be able to play. Faulk has not practiced this week and Martz said that's helped him recuperate from a troublesome injury, adding he's made "light years" of improvement.

Faulk is in his fourth year with the Rams (5-6) and has never missed three games in a row.

"The more you run on it, obviously the more it sets you back," Martz said. "I just feel certain we'll have him next week and he feels good about next week, but there's a chance we'll have him this week."

Gordon, a third-round pick this year, was injured near the end of last week's loss at Washington when he hit the turf helmet-first. He stayed in one more play because the Rams were in their two-minute offense and there wasn't time to get off the field after he had struggled to regain his feet.

Plus, he wasn't about to pronounce Trung Canidate's name to tell the third-stringer to take his place.

"I was trying to say Trung's name, but it just wouldn't come out," Gordon said. "I knew where I was, but I just didn't know what was going on."

Gordon was still bothered by headaches on Monday and Tuesday but by Wednesday they had subsided. As a precaution, he did not participate in any contact drills this week.

Gordon has 161 yards rushing and a 3.6-yard average with one touchdown, compared with Faulk's 816 yards, a 5.0-yard average and eight touchdowns. Gordon has 25 catches for 219 yards and two touchdowns, compared with Faulk's 60 for 426 yards and two scores.

One of Faulk's greatest strengths is his ability to give the Rams wide-receiver ability in passing downs. Martz said Gordon, who had 108 yards rushing and receiving last week, has made great progress as a receiver, too.

"We've thrown him some balls in practice that running backs, they just don't make those kind of catches, and he's been able to pull those off," Martz said. "He's more patient, and he's got that jump-cut ability that Marshall has. Not many guys have it."

As time goes on, Gordon said he's feeling more and more comfortable as the starter.

"It helps a lot being in there getting used to everything and getting a feel of where I need to be on certain blitzes," Gordon said. "Just getting reps, that helps on its own. So I feel pretty good."

Noteworthy

The Rams-Eagles game is a rematch of the NFC championship game won by St. Louis. "There's still hard feelings," tight end Ernie Conwell said.

Rams defenders were frustrated by play-action passes by the Redskins last week, which helped keep the pressure off inexperienced quarterback Danny Wuerffel. They're expecting the Eagles to try the same tactic with third-stringer A.J. Feeley, making his first start since 1999 when he was a junior at Oregon.

Martz isn't counting on the Rams making life miserable for Feeley, noting that Marc Bulger excelled when Kurt Warner was out with a broken pinkie. "All those quarterbacks are like our guys, they're schooled in what they do," Martz said. "We started a third quarterback, too, and he had five pretty good games. They're in the league for a reason."

Rams players don't believe their loss last week had anything to do with relaxing after winning five straight to even their record after an 0-5 start. "The underlying theme is we've had opportunities to make plays," Conwell said. "In past years, we've gone out and made those plays. This year, a fair amount of the time we just haven't stepped up and made the big play. I can't tell you why. I wish I knew."