After a dynamic 2011 regular season debut that went above and beyond his rookie debut last year, receiver 
“Danario obviously had a good game,” coach Steve Spagnuolo said on Tuesday. “You guys know how I feel about him and how tough a guy he is. It’s great to see. And that’s part of being on a team. When a guy performs at a certain level and deserves a little more playing time we’ll do that.”
Alexander’s breakout effort against the Giants on Monday night included a trio of big plays that resulted in three catches for 122 yards and the team’s lone touchdown.
In the process, Alexander once again showed the tantalizing big play potential he has flashed on multiple occasions since he arrived in St. Louis as an undrafted free agent last year.
It’s a role Alexander openly embraces and hopes to continue to grasp.
“I am a bigger guy, a taller guy and able to stretch the field so every jump ball and every deep ball I want to have it,” Alexander said. “I want to bring that excitement to the team, sort of like a big slam dunk to get everybody hyped and get everybody going. I want to be that guy on the team.”
Making Alexander that guy based on his performance seems like a simple proposition on the surface but in reality it’s much easier said than done.
That’s where Alexander’s five times surgically-repaired left knee comes into play. With a completely healthy knee, Alexander would probably take on a full workload and, really, he probably not only would have been drafted but drafted high in the 2010 NFL Draft.
But that isn’t Alexander’s reality and it never will be for as long as he’s in the league. Alexander will constantly have to deal with managing a knee that swells easily and can cause discomfort without notice.
Were Alexander a 10-year veteran, it’d be easier to manage because he’d have enough experience where practice isn’t so much of a necessity. In a new offense and only his second season in the league, the amount of plays he’s going to get in games has to be almost exactly duplicated by what he does in practice.
In other words, a big workload in the game equals a big workload in practice and thus, more stress on the knee.
“The one thing we have to remember about Danario, when you commit to putting a guy out there, if you were to commit to putting a guy out there for a lot of plays, or all the plays, that means you’ve got to do that in practice,” Spagnuolo said. “Danario has a different issue with his knee and we want to get him to the game. You’ve got to have him ready both reps… and so we do that balancing act every week. Hopefully we’ll do it the right way this week and he’ll get in there and make those same kind of plays because that was nice to see.”
For his part, Alexander welcomes the chance to get as many repetitions as he can get, both in practice and in the games. To that end, he spends a lot of time with head athletic trainer Reggie Scott and goes through a rigorous process every day to ensure he can step on the field when the time comes.
“I am always in the training room, that’s the first thing I do once I get up here,” Alexander said. “I am usually up here early at the facility to get everything going. I just stay on top of it, going through practice and being able to manage it. I also do a lot at home also. It’s a job to do and that’s what I am doing.”
Considering Alexander’s performance last week against the Giants, he’s excited about the possibility of getting an expanded role this week against Baltimore.
Along with that added responsibility, Alexander knows that there’s inherent risk in every snap he takes. That doesn’t keep him from wanting to be on the field as much as possible, though.
“You have to love the game to go through what I go through every week and be able to play, you have to have a love for the game,” Alexander said.
Alexander got some added work in Wednesday’s practice despite a little bit of fluid build up according to Spagnuolo.
It seems almost certain Alexander will continue to work into the offense but the Rams will also continue to be cautious with him to ensure they have him on game day.
After all, even a little bit of Alexander’s big play capability is better than none at all.
“It’s been hard,” Spagnuolo said. “Again, we try to only give him a certain amount of snaps during the week. We’re balancing all of that and all the reps you’ve got to get through the course of practice. I think you need to do right by your players too. I don’t want to wear somebody out and all of a sudden not have them be able to do anything three weeks from now. It’s not that easy, but I’ll tell you again, I go back to Danario who I give a lot of credit to. He fights through all of this. He wants to go. He’s a competitor and we like that about him.”
INJURY REPORT: The Rams returned to practice Wednesday with a late afternoon practice in an effort to give the team more time to recover from Monday night’s game. Because of the quick turnaround, Spagnuolo didn’t want to push his team too hard but he was pleased with the work the group got done.
On the injury front, the Rams seem to be getting a bit better but had to hold out a couple of players to ensure they get them into practice at some point this week.
Running back
Spagnuolo said Jackson will continue to be day to day as he recovers from his injury but the Rams remain hopeful to have him this week.
Perhaps the most encouraging sign is the progress of Amendola.
“He’s always making progress, that guy,” Spagnuolo said. “He’s got the full range of motion. Now it’s just a matter of…so many things were undone in there so to speak and waiting for that to settle down, then getting his strength and then we’ll get him out there. But I don’t know when that will be.”
Running back
“I think we needed today (for him),” Spagnuolo said. “Hopefully we’ll get something out of him tomorrow.”
Receiver
ROSTER MOVES: The Rams made a couple of roster moves to increase depth in the secondary following the hamstring injury to cornerback
Atchison was placed on injured reserve Monday morning and the team moved rookie
The Rams brought back running back
