By Nick Wagoner
Senior Writer

If all goes according to plan this week, running back Steven Jackson will get his chance for an encore this weekend against the New England Patriots.

Jackson had an MRI on his injured quadriceps Monday afternoon and the results came back relatively positive.

“It was a slight strain,” Rams coach Jim Haslett said. “He will be limited this week but he should be fine for the game.”

Jackson suffered the injury on a 1-yard run in the fourth quarter of the Rams’ dominant 34-14 win against Dallas. That was the 25th and final carry of the day for Jackson on his way to a 160-yard, three touchdown performance.

Haslett said Jackson planted awkwardly on the leg and limped to the sideline. After some preliminary evaluation on the sideline, Jackson limped to the locker room and was called the injury a “bruise.”

Apparently, Jackson wasn’t too far off though as Haslett expects him to play. Jackson will be limited in practice this week but that could change as the week goes on.

“We’ll see how he is,” Haslett said. “He probably won’t do much early in the week and hopefully we’ll increase the load as the week goes.”

If Jackson can’t play against New England, the Rams will likely have to go with a three-back attack of Antonio Pittman, Travis Minor and recently-signed Kenneth Darby.

Pittman has missed the past three games with a lower leg injury but practiced Thursday and will dress and play this weekend. He will get plenty of practice work during any time Jackson misses.

Minor rushed for 15 yards on five carries with another 17 yards on two receptions in Sunday’s game.

Darby signed just last week and got no touches against the Cowboys, something Haslett regretted Monday.

Of course, the Rams might not have to worry at all about Jackson’s availability had Haslett been able to get Jackson out of the game earlier.

Haslett took the blame for that Monday afternoon.

“I kind of screwed that up,” Haslett said. “I wanted to get him out, I wanted to get Marc (Bulger) out, I wanted to get Steven out, I wanted to get Torry (Holt) out. I wanted to get a couple of the guards out and get some of the young guys in. We had a big enough lead; we actually could have got a quarter’s worth of work for those guys. It would have been nice to get those guys in so I kind of screwed that up.”

INCOGNITO APPEALS: Late last week, the NFL announced that guard Richie Incognito was being fined $35, 000 for his actions in the team’s win against Washington on Oct. 12.

Included in that amount was a $25,000 fine for “repeated verbal abuse of a game official,” which was essentially for the penalty he received at the end of the game. He also received two $5,000 fines, one for a “major” facemask penalty and one for a chop block.

Incognito said Sunday that while he didn’t necessarily think he was guilty of the infractions to the point where he deserved fines, he did understand the concept of it.

“They thought it was necessary to fine me,” Incognito said. “They were protecting the referees and they fined me. We appealed it and we’ll see if we get anything back on it. I understand fully why they are protecting the refs and the integrity of the game so I will take the fine in stride and keep playing hard.”

Incognito will appeal the fines in hopes of getting at least some of that money back. 

“(It’s) a very steep fine,” Incognito said. “That will hurt no matter how much you get fined. Right now I am looking forward to the appeal process and hopefully I will get some money back.”

DEFENSIVE CLARIFICATIONS: The Rams were so active and had so many players around the ball at various points in the game that there was some confusion about how some of those defensive statistics would be divvied up.

On Monday, after the coaches reviewed the tape, there are some answers to those questions. Here’s some notable statistics from Sunday’s game.

Corey Chavous and Leonard Little tied for the team lead with six tackles apiece. The forced fumble on Dallas running back Marion Barber that was originally attributed to Little was changed to Chavous, who was credited with a forced fumble and fumble recovery for the play.

Little and defensive end James Hall were officially credited with sharing a sack and each emerged from the game with 1.5 sacks for the day.

The defensive line accounted for 13, that’s right 13, quarterback hits.  Rookie end Chris Long had five of those.

The Rams have nominated Little and safety Oshiomogho Atogwe (who had two interceptions) for Defensive Player of the Week honors.

FEELIN’ FELLS: Tight end Daniel Fells signed with the Rams on Oct. 6 after Randy McMichael was lost for the season to injury.

After playing quite a bit against Washington, Fells was more heavily involved against the Cowboys and nearly had his first NFL touchdown.

On third-and-goal at the Dallas 2, the Rams called a play action pass with a loaded line in which Fells was to break to the back of the end zone. Bulger floated a pass in that direction but Dallas linebacker Greg Ellis clutched and grabbed Fells who never got to the ball.

Ellis received a flag for defensive holding and Jackson scored a play later from 1 yard out.

Don’t be surprised if Fells’ role continues to increase in the coming weeks.

“I like what I have seen of him,” Haslett said. “He’s a big body guy, a good blocker, he runs pretty good. I kind of like him. That’s another guy we could have got in the game yesterday to see him play 15, 20 snaps.”

INJURY REPORT: Haslett’s breakdown of the injury report was pretty lengthy Monday afternoon, with some mixed results.

Defensive tackle Adam Carriker suffered a low ankle sprain against the Cowboys. He will be questionable this week though it’s likely he will miss a game or possibly two.

Receiver Derek Stanley took a shot to the head on a helmet to helmet hit from Dallas safety Keith Davis. He was left motionless on the field but eventually was able to walk off on his own power.

Stanley checked into a local hospital after the game but eventually signed himself out later that night and proclaimed himself OK. He will have some psych tests this week before any decision will be made about his playing this week.

On the same play, safety Todd Johnson was hit from the side and suffered a bruised kidney. Johnson had some urine in his blood and is in a local hospital. Johnson will be out at least a couple of games.

“It was like a war zone that time when Derek got hit, they had a couple guys down and Todd got hit in the back,” Haslett said. “I was over talking to him and I thought he was fine and last night he called (athletic trainer) Jim Anderson and said he had some pain and they admitted him to the hospital. He has a bruised kidney so they will have to let it settle in for a couple of weeks.”
As for players previously injured, the Rams could get some re-inforcements this week in addition to Pittman.

Cornerback Tye Hill could return to practice this week and will have a decision made later in the week.

Left tackle Orlando Pace did some work on the side Monday afternoon and could return to practice Wednesday as he recovers from a slightly torn quadriceps. Pace didn’t play against Dallas.

Receiver Drew Bennett (foot) will miss another week as he continues to heal.