Warner returns to work, shows no effects of injury

ST. LOUIS -- Kurt Warner returned to practice on Friday after missing most of the previous day with sore ribs and said he'll take an injection if necessary before Sunday's NFC championship game against the Philadelphia Eagles.

"I'd rather not if I didn't have to," Warner said. "But it's obviously something that can be pretty painful, especially with what I have to do.

"If it's the most advantageous thing for me to do and I know it's not going to affect anything, that I can't hurt it worse by numbing it up, then by all means."

The NFL's MVP warmed up without apparent difficulty and zipped his first pass of Friday's practice to Jeff Robinson. Warner didn't show any visible signs of trouble with throws or handoffs.

"He's a little tender still," coach Mike Martz said. "He threw the red-zone stuff, and he'll be fine Sunday. The issue with him is the pain. Each day, it gets better."

Warner said increased stretching helped him. Trainers also massaged the area.

"When I got it loosened up and stretched out, it felt a lot better," Warner said. "That's going to be the key over the next couple of days."

On game day, Warner always wears a flak jacket. He said the team would experiment with extra padding. He won't throw on Saturday, as has been the routine.

"I don't know if there was ever any worry in my mind that I'd be out there Sunday," Warner said. "You just kind of have to deal with a little bit of pain, and you can do whatever you want as long as you deal with it."

Warner was injured with about 8 1/2 minutes to go and the Rams ahead by four touchdowns in the fourth quarter of last weekend's 45-17 second-round NFC playoff victory over Green Bay when he was hit by Vonnie Holliday.