His is a thankless position in which statistics are hard to come by and the overall success of the entire defense is where credit is derived.
Such is the life of a defensive tackle such as 
“Gary comes to work every day and he’s a pro,” coach Steve Spagnuolo said. “He’s one of them tough guys. People I know…everybody around him knows they can count on him. He does his job real solid. He’s great to have.”
Gibson’s statistics are far from flashy. For the record, he has 18 tackles with no sacks, one quarterback pressure and one quarterback hit.
But in spite of those numbers, Gibson regularly grades out among the best of the defensive players because he is almost always where he’s supposed to be and he gives full out effort on every play.
And Gibson truly does not care whether he gets any credit for his work, even if he has one of the most difficult tasks on the defense.
“Yeah, when you’re a first and second down guy, you’re in there, you’re taking the double teams,” Gibson said. “But I don’t mind playing that role. If they do well, we as a defense do well so that’s it for me. That’s all that matters.”
It’s that selfless attitude that has allowed Gibson to settle into a starting role for the Rams after fighting for his football life the first four years of his NFL career in Baltimore and Carolina.
Signed as a free agent by the Rams on April 30, 2009, Gibson was familiar with defensive coordinator Ken Flajole from his previous two seasons in Carolina.
With 12 games and no starts to his name, Gibson won over the Rams coaching staff and earned a starting role last season. He started the first five games of the season before another in a series of disappointing injuries – this time his ankle – derailed a promising year.
“It was definitely heart breaking,” Gibson said. “But I pride myself on always working hard and setting goals and going above expectations. No matter what I do, I am always trying to get even better this year.”
Gibson came back motivated to reclaim his spot, even earning kudos for his work in the team’s offseason conditioning program.
Against the odds again, Gibson once again earned his starting position next to veteran
“It’s great,” Gibson said. “It’s everything I wished for. Starting in the NFL is a great privilege. I am glad to be back this year doing it again.”
That, more than anything, has been the best thing of all. After injuries slowed him down early in his career, Gibson is finally getting to do what he loves and he’s having an absolute blast with the guys he’s doing it with.
“That’s a big thing,” Gibson said. “We’ve got a bunch of different personalities on defense this year and everybody meshes real well together. It’s a good group.”
VETERANS DAY SALUTE: The Rams welcomed more than 200 military members and their families to the Russell Training Center on Thursday to have lunch and take in a practice.
The enthusiastic group quickly won over a Rams team that already held it in high regard by paying close attention and cheering for big plays during the workout.
“They were cheering during practice, I haven’t heard that in a while,” running back
The opportunity was put together by the Rams’ community outreach department and representatives of all four branches of the military were present.
When practice ended, the entire team went to the sidelines and spent time taking pictures and signing autographs for everyone in attendance.
“I have got a great deal of respect for the people that protect our country, not only the ones here but the ones overseas,” Spagnuolo said. “I never forget about it. It's special to me. I don't have anybody in my family that's in the service but as far as I'm concerned they are all family. So I appreciate them being here.”
LEWIS STILL LEARNING: The Rams signed safety
Lewis was inactive in his first game with the Rams as he was still adjusting to and learning the Rams’ defensive system.
This week, though, Lewis could be active and might even play a more valuable role considering he spent the past four seasons playing for the 49ers.
Lewis has offered some tips to his offensive teammates, Jackson included on things to look for in San Francisco’s defensive game plan.
“He’s helped me out a little bit,” Jackson said. “I won’t share it with you guys but he’s told me some things that when they get ready to play us, particularly me, myself, how they would like to approach the game plan and things like that. So it has helped a little bit and now it’s up to me to take advantage of the notes he’s given me.”
It remains to be seen whether Lewis will be active this week as safety
But Spagnuolo says Lewis is getting closer to being comfortable enough in the scheme to be active on gameday.
“He’s chipping away,” Spagnuolo said. “It’s terminology and all that. We’re talking about; I’m going to guess five practices now, so it takes a little while. But he’s got his head in the book all the time and he’s a smart football player, so we’ll see.”
BARTELL COMING AROUND: Cornerback
Bartell did not start against Carolina or Tampa but has been getting plenty of repetitions entering games on the outside when the team goes to its nickel package.
Both injuries are still plaguing Bartell but he’s making strides every day according to Spagnuolo.
“He’s got both, but the thigh feels a little bit better,” Spagnuolo said. “The shoulder, he’s trying to keep it out of contact. He’s really doing as much as he can, but we want to make sure he doesn’t bang it around and set it back.”
INJURY REPORT: The Rams had a few minor changes to the injury report Thursday as tackle
Saffold had a sore shoulder and was limited to individual work. Spagnuolo said it was precautionary and Saffold is expected to be ready to go Sunday in San Francisco.
Diggs collided with safety
Receiver
Safety James Butler (ankle), FB
Other limited participants included end
Joining Bartell as full participants were linebackers
