A week after returning to the playing field, SJax is feeling good and eager to suit up Sunday against a fierce divisional rival, the Arizona Cardinals.

“The leg is doing well,” he said. “I’ve been able to be a part of everything in practice, so it feels really good. I was able to get through it well with no setbacks."

SJ hopes his improved health translates to more touches this week against the Cards.

“I was able to practice on Wednesday and (Thursday), so I do expect the workload to kind of be a little bit more this week against Arizona.”

Having No. 39 back in the lineup will lead to a more efficient red-zone offense, but he’s got to get the ball in order to score.

“Of course, I want to run the ball in the red zone, and of course, I want to run the ball as much as possible,” Steven said. “But I don’t control everything. I just try and execute the game plan. That’s all I can do.”

THE SAME PAGE
Both Steven and Rams’ coach Jim Haslett put any questions about their relationship to rest this week. There had been some miscommunication regarding Steven’s health and the overall game plan after the Miami game.

That’s no longer the case.

“We’re fine,” Haslett said Thursday. “There’s no issues at all, nothing at all. He’s a good guy, works hard, and we’re just glad to have him back and ready to go.”

Steven said Haslett’s comments have almost become a joke between the two, since they got so blown out of proportion by the media.

“Me and Coach Haslett, we’re good,” Steven said. “We’ve been able to kind of look back at that (sound bite) and just laugh about it. Everything’s fine. … He explained it to me like he explained it to you guys. He was more talking about the quad muscle fatiguing and not so much my lung capacity.”

From now on, Haslett said, he would “defer everything to Steven” regarding updates on his health status.

NEXT UP
Steven and the Rams play on the road this Sunday in Phoenix. With Steven fully healthy and getting back in stride, expect the Rams’ red zone deficiency to come to an end.

RELATED STORIES
Jackson says he has no problem with coach Haslett (STLtoday, Dec. 5, 2008)
http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/sports/stories.nsf/rams/story/AE8524378D4CE1CF8625751600181327?OpenDocument
Jackson denies rift with Haslett (Belleville News-Democrat, Dec. 5, 2008)
http://www.bnd.com/sports/rams/story/566883.html