Looking for a big 'roll'; Jackson has a signature move, now he needs TDs

ST. LOUIS -- Las Vegas-born running back Steven Jackson rolled the dice in the end zone when he scored his first touchdown of the season.

The St. Louis Rams' new feature back hopes to get many more chances to do that. Jackson, the team's first-round pick last year, enters Sunday's home opener against the Tennessee Titans with 153 yards on 37 carries, a 4.1-yard average.

Sure, he'd like to get the ball more. Jackson said an ideal day would be 25 carries for 130 yards or more. But he's not complaining, especially after last week's victory at Arizona evened the Rams' record at 1-1.

"Most importantly, I know the runs and the carries will come and it's a long season," Jackson said. "I'm not on any push or campaign to ask for more carries just yet.

"I know as long as we're winning, I won't complain at all."

Jackson, whose father was a pit boss at the MGM Grand casino for several decades, scored on a 7-yard run in the third quarter at Arizona in the Rams' 17-12 victory last week. Then he trotted to the back of the end zone, bent at the waist and pantomimed a come-out craps roll, finishing with a flourish.

"That's my signature now," Jackson said. "Vegas, baby!"

Not that he'd want young, impressionable fans to get the wrong idea.

"I play here and there a little bit, but I'm not a big gambler at all," Jackson said. "I learned over the years to stay away from that and keep your money in bank accounts and other things like that."

The Rams plan to utilize Jackson more and more in a shift to ball control. But Jackson could be in for tough time this week, given that the Titans held the Ravens to just 14 yards rushing last week, but teammates know success on the ground can only help the total picture.

"The way he's feeling and the way he's running, that's just going to open things up for everybody," wide receiver Torry Holt said. "You run the ball well, then they've got to come down. We pass the ball well, then they have to back off and we can run. Everybody wins."

In any case, Titans coach Jeff Fisher knows that Jackson, who opened last week's game with a 24-yard carry, is a player his team will have to stop.

"Steven is very explosive, yet he still has the ability to cut back and can bounce outside," Fisher said. "The little defensive backs aren't having much success trying to tackle him low. You have to wrap him up."

Coach Mike Martz turned conservative in the fourth quarter last week and tried to put the game in Jackson's hands. During the Rams' glory years from 1999 to 2001, Martz as offensive coordinator and then coach built up big leads and then finished teams off by giving the ball to Marshall Faulk.

The Arizona game was a different case, because the lead was only five points. The Rams also failed to sustain any drives, needing a last stand to preserve the victory.

"At the end of the game it was a situation where we could have thrown some nice shorter balls and had some completions and probably put that game away," Martz said. "But I would like to get him the ball more."