Steven Jackson made his preseason debut on Saturday with six carries in the Rams’ 17-16 win over the Tennessee Titans.
For No. 39, at this point in the preseason, getting in the game was more about being active than the level of production.
"It felt good," S-Jax told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. "It was the first live action I've had. It's a great feeling to see where I'm at, see where I mesh up with the offensive line and with the scheme … As you can see, we still have some things we need to work on, but we're still making progress."
That progress included a touchdown on Steven’s first snap of 2011. The Rams ran play action to SJ39 and Brandon Gibson got released deep.
Sam Bradford hit the receiver in stride for an 83-yard touchdown. Bradford foreshadowed Steven’s impact on such a play prior to the game:
"There's no doubt it's going to be awesome to have Jack out there," the second-year quarterback told the Belleville News-Democrat. "Anytime he's out there it just gives us another weapon. Defenses have to respect what he's able to do in the run game."
After the one-play, 83-yard drive to start the game, Action Jackson remained in the game for four more drives. He carried a total of six times for 10 yards and had one catch for four yards. But Steven said the object of the preseason has little to do with yardage and more to do with finding a comfort level with the offense.
"I'm not looking for yardage in the preseason," he said. "What I'm looking for is run reads and how my chemistry is with the offensive line. One hundred yards or 1 yard, it's [irrelevant]…. The job of the preseason is to get back into the flow of the game."
NEXT UP
Steven and the Rams will lock up this week in a "Show-Me State" battle against the Chiefs on Friday night in Kansas City. Kickoff is scheduled for 7 p.m. CDT and the game can be seen on KTVI Channel 2.
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