By Nick Wagoner
Senior Writer
GLENDALE, Ariz. – After every game he plays in, Rams running back Steven Jackson calls his father back in Las Vegas to rehash the days’ events.

Sometimes, the critiques are good, sometimes they aren’t and sometimes Jackson knows what to expect.

After another disappointing loss to Arizona on Sunday in which he uncharacteristically fumbled twice, Jackson has a pretty good idea of what the man who shares his name is going to say.

“I was trying to make things happen,” Jackson said. “That’s football 101 for a running back is to protect the ball. I was fighting for extra yards and the ball slipped out. There’s really no excuse. It’s one of those things when I call home and talk to my dad about it, he will be the first one to tell me to keep my head up and make sure I take care of the ball. That’s what a running back has to do.”

After returning to the lineup from a quad injury last week against Miami, Jackson showed early that he is getting closer and closer to being at full strength. He ran hard and tough in the opening half, including an explosive 32-yard jaunt in which he hurdled a defender on his way to a big gain.

By most accounts, the Jackson of old, the Pro Bowl Jackson was back in action.

“Steven is a monster,” tackle Adam Goldberg said. “It’s an honor to block for him because you know that he’ll pound out the tough yards and he’ll work just has hard and play just as physical as you do up front. I’m glad he’s my teammate.”

But any good feelings Jackson generated with his hard running in the first half vanished quickly in the opening stages of the third quarter.

After driving to Arizona’s 24, Jackson burst up the middle for what appeared to be a solid 4 or 5 yard gain but as he tried to fight forward for extra yards, he took a shot from linebacker Geno Hayes that jarred the ball loose. Arizona’s Karlos Dansby recovered, killing the drive and the Rams’ hopes of cutting Arizona’s lead to six.

That turnover didn’t hurt near as much as what happened on the Rams’ next possession, though.

On second-and-3 at the Rams’ 15, Jackson took a handoff from quarterback Marc Bulger up the middle and tried to spin away from Hayes. But Hayes got a hand in on the ball and knocked it into the waiting arms of defensive tackle Darnell Dockett.

Dockett quickly covered the 11 yards into the end zone to give Arizona a 27-7 lead, effectively ending any hope the Rams had of a comeback.

Jackson said his father will bring that up soon after their conversation begins.

“I think what’s obvious is that I have to hold on to the ball,” Jackson said. “He will give me some good pointers. He’ll point the good things out and he’ll definitely point the bad things out. “

While the final product was far from what Jackson had in mind, there were some positives. He finished with just 64 yards on 19 carries with a catch for a 3-yard touchdown but the way he ran was certainly encouraging considering he wasn’t even practicing just a couple weeks ago.

“The leg felt great,” Jackson said. “I was really ex cited coming to the game knowing the leg was starting to feel really good and coming back in the right direction.”

BARRON SITS: Before the game, Haslett and the Rams declared that Alex Barron would be replaced in the starting lineup by Goldberg.

Goldberg took almost all of the reps with the first team at right tackle in Barron’s place during Friday’s practice. Haslett decided not to make the change official until Sunday morning so as not to give up a possible competitive edge to the Cardinals but Barron’s exit from the starting lineup was a product of a disciplinary issue.

Barron was late for a team meeting on Friday morning by a considerable margin and that landed him squarely on the bench.

After the game, Barron said he chatted with Haslett about it and it’s not a lingering issue.

“When you are ready to play then you want to play,” Barron said.  “I was late. I didn’t follow the rules. Goldberg stepped in and did a great job. I just got it in when I could.

Barron did work on extra point and field goal tries as well as some spot duty in place of Goldberg throughout the game.

The missed start was the first for Barron since 2005, a streak of 47 consecutive games snapped.

For his part, Goldberg did an admirable job considering he hadn’t played on the right side all season and had just a lone practice of work on the right side going into the game.

“I haven’t been playing a lot on the right side this year but I have played a lot on that side in my career so I fell back into the habit,” Goldberg said. “That’s your job: to be ready to go at any time.”

DRAFT MAKES IT THROUGH: Linebacker Chris Draft impressed Haslett and the coaching staff with his quick return from a broken foot.
Draft returned to practice this week at near full speed only a few weeks after suffering a broken bone in his foot in the first meeting against Arizona on Nov. 2.

Of course, the versatile Draft returned at middle linebacker and not his usual strong side spot.

Playing mostly on running downs and when Arizona was in a base package with two running backs, Draft managed a tackle and a quarterback hurry in unofficial pressbox statistics.

“It felt great being able to get back out there made my feel like I can contribute rather than being a rah rah guy on the sideline,” Draft said.

INJURY REPORT: The Rams made it out of the game relatively healthy as the only injury of note was to an already injured defensive end Leonard Little.

Little, who is playing with a tear in his hamstring, re-injured the leg on a sack of Arizona quarterback Kurt Warner in the third quarter.

Little limped off the field but said after that he didn’t believe it was anything serious that wasn’t already there.