National Football League

Rams lick wounds, Jackson still a question

Published Sep. 21, 2011 12:42 a.m. ET

foxsports

Mistakes cost the St. Louis Rams dearly in their first Monday night appearance since 2006. Now they're 0-2 for the fifth straight season and looking at a short week to prepare for the Baltimore Ravens.

''We're certainly not where we want to be record-wise or performance-wise,'' coach Steve Spagnuolo said Tuesday. ''We've always said this, it's not how you start, it's how you finish. You can only say this for so long because then you start running out of games.''

Plus, Spagnuolo isn't sure whether running back Steven Jackson will be ready for the Ravens. He missed the 28-16 loss to the New York Giants with a right quad injury after an unsatisfactory pregame warmup.

Wide receiver Danny Amendola, quarterback Sam Bradford's top target, also missed the Giants game and is day to day with a dislocated left elbow. Spagnuolo said swelling was down and Amendola already had improved range of motion.

Bradford passed for a career-best 331 yards, although he was only 22 for 46. He was particularly effective in the no-huddle offense, until St. Louis got near the goal line.

The Rams stalled three times inside the 10, once getting thwarted on 1st-and-goal from the 1, settling for chip-shot field goals by Josh Brown.

''Just too many mistakes in the red zone,'' Bradford said. ''When you get down there you have to come away with touchdowns. I said the same thing last week.''

The Rams were not happy with the Giants' counterattack, apparently feigning injury to disrupt the tempo. Spagnuolo said the team has notified the league office.

''That'll go on the list of things we're going to send in,'' Spagnuolo said. ''I think the league is looking into it. I'll let it run its course from that point of view.''

Bradford said it was obvious the Giants were just buying time.

''They couldn't get subbed, they couldn't line up,'' Bradford said. ''Someone said, 'Someone go down, someone go down,' so someone just went down and grabbed a cramp.''

Two turnovers led to Giants touchdowns; rookie Greg Salas' fumbled punt return and a botched swing pass to Cadillac Williams that was returned for a TD. Williams was slow to react and only watched.

Bradford said it was supposed to be a screen pass and in hindsight wished he'd have called a timeout and changed the play.

Players had the day off except for treatment and Spagnuolo said he hadn't spoken to Williams, but said coaches had gone over the play during the practice week.

A pass interference penalty on Bradley Fletcher put the Giants in position for another score.

The play of Danario Alexander, who caught three passes for 122 yards and a touchdown, was one of the highlights of the setback. Alexander has undergone five operations on his left knee and was inactive for the opener.

Spagnuolo said Alexander's practice time is closely monitored to avoid irritating the knee, and he saw limited action against the Giants for the same reason.

''We do that balancing act every week,'' Spagnuolo said. ''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.''

The defense sacked Eli Manning four times. But the Rams lost another cornerback, with Tim Atchison sidelined indefinitely with a hamstring injury. The team was thin in the secondary before cornerback Ron Bartell was lost for the season in the opener with two fractures in his neck.

Salas was undergoing a CT scan for a rib injury after X-rays did not indicate a break. Linebacker Ben Leber (groin strain) and Williams (hamstring) were day to day.