In his nearly six seasons in the NFL, cornerback 
After a nagging shoulder stinger injury kept him out of last week’s game against New Orleans, Bartell could barely manage the thought of not taking part in a crucial three-game stretch to close the season.
So it is that it will take a lot more than a shoulder stinger to keep Bartell out of this week’s game against Kansas City.
“No question at all I will be playing regardless,” Bartell said. “Being here six years, we have never had this opportunity and you never know when it’s going to come again so I am going to just go out there and see what happens.”
Bartell’s gung ho attitude is more than just bluster as he did return to the practice field Wednesday after sitting out last week.
The stinger has sapped Bartell’s shoulder of strength and made it hard for him to do many of the basics of his job, like tackle.
This week, Bartell says he is feeling a bit better and a bit stronger, something that coach Steve Spagnuolo agreed with after practice.
“He seems to (have strength back),” Spagnuolo said. “He did most of the individual drills and was not in all of the team reps but he got a good chunk of them.”
The closest Bartell has come to a playoff race was 2006 when the Rams were in the mix up until the final weekend but always needed plenty of help to make the postseason.
That’s still a far cry from this season where the Rams have three games left and control their destiny in the NFC West Division.
“I’m not as strong as I’d like to be but it’s now or never for us,” Bartell said. “We have three games to go. If we win these three games we’re in. We control our own destiny so everybody is scratching, clawing, doing whatever we have to do to win so I am going to do the same.”
Working through injury is a common thing around the league at this time of year as is looking for methods to ensure that a player can get back on the field.
Bartell says there are some options that could help protect the shoulder against the Chiefs such as a neck roll or a collar that could help stabilize it but he was unsure if he would take such precautions.
“We need all hands on deck so if I have got to go out there with a neck collar or neck roll then so be it but I will be out there in some way, some capacity trying to help this team win,” Bartell said.
Getting Bartell back would be a shot in the arm to a defense that was severely limited by injuries to the secondary last week. Fellow corner
As the team’s top cover corner, having Bartell to match up against Kansas City star receiver Dwayne Bowe would be helpful for the defense according to linebacker
“Ron is a huge part of what we do on defense,” Laurinaitis said. “Ron is very talented, big guy for a corner and he’s extremely fast and he locks guys down. So Ron is a vital part of our defense. He’s part of that veteran group apart from his physical tools that has been through a lot in St. Louis. He takes it seriously. He’s a good professional to have on game day.”
While Bartell won’t likely have full strength back in his shoulder in time for the game, he says that he will do whatever is necessary to make tackles and doesn’t foresee that being an issue for him come gameday.
“I will find a way to get them down,” Bartell said, laughing. “If I have got to trip them then I will be like that coach from the Jets. But I have been here six years we have never this late in the season been this close to accomplishing something this big. It was tough enough sitting out last weekend. It was very tough so that’s something I don’t want to go through again. I feel like the team can use me in whatever capacity so I’ll go out there and give it a go.”
QUARTERBACK QUANDARY: There is much speculation and consternation going around about the uncertain status of the Chiefs quarterback for Sunday against the Rams.
Normal starter Matt Cassel had an emergency appendectomy a week ago and was unable to play against the Chargers in last week’s game.
Brodie Croyle replaced Cassel in the lineup as the Chiefs struggled to get the offense going, posting just 67 yards of total offense against San Diego.
On Wednesday, Cassel returned to practice on a limited basis. He did plenty of work in individual drills but had his work limited during team drills according to Kansas City coach Todd Haley.
““He was limited today and that’s how he’ll be listed on the injury report, and it’s really going to be day to day with him,” Haley said. “I think that it’s different from the normal injury situation, not one that a lot of us have a lot of experience with, so we’ll just have to see how each day goes with him and progress from there.”
From the Rams perspective, it’s not so much which quarterback is playing as the system that quarterback will be playing in that has them concerned.
That’s why Spagnuolo isn’t too worried about which signal caller will start so much as he is focused on finding answers for what it is the Chiefs are trying to do.
“I have got a lot of respect for the system they run,” Spagnuolo said. “(Offensive coordinator) Charlie Weis does pretty good with whatever quarterback he puts in there. I know they didn’t have a great game last week but I know what they are capable of doing. We’ll have to deal with whatever quarterback plays. We’ve got respect for both of them.”
For the season, Cassel has completed 60 percent of his passes for 2,503 yards with 23 touchdowns and four interceptions for a rating of 98.4. Croyle was seven-of-17 for 40 yards with no touchdowns and no interceptions in his only start last week.
DIGGS HAS SURGERY: Linebacker Na’il Diggs is out for the season with a torn pectoral muscle in his chest and was placed on injured reserve last week.
Spagnuolo confirmed Wednesday that Diggs did indeed have his surgery last Friday and that the process of recovery now begins.
“Yeah, he had it on Friday and it was the pec they had to re-attach,” Spagnuolo said. “Now it’s just the pain in trying to sleep. He’s been through other ones before, he knows what to expect.”
Diggs was at the Russell Training Center on Wednesday afternoon wearing a sling on his arm.
INJURY REPORT: In addition to Bartell and King, the Rams also appear poised to have another player who missed last week back in action as well as the only guy who was added to the report coming out of Sunday’s game.
Joining Bartell on the limited participation list was guard
Tight end
Hoomanawanui will be out again this week as he continues to recover from a high ankle sprain.
Jones was sent home with sickness but is expected to be fine, perhaps as soon as tomorrow.
Nixon had surgery on his fracture hand Tuesday but Spagnuolo said he’d likely be able to get to the game.
