ST. LOUIS -- Rams defensive end Chris Long woke up Monday morning feeling bruised and sore and achy all over.
And he loved it.
"It was great. I was happy to have that," Long said. "It's good to be this tired and sore. That means you've played in a football game. I hadn't done that in a long time."
It had been 12 long weeks, to be exact, since Long suffered a left ankle injury in the third quarter of the season opener and had to undergo surgery. In his first game back, he did his part in a 52-0 rout of the Oakland Raiders by registering his first sack and recovering a fumble. He was on the field for 38 plays, about half of the total for the Rams' defense.
"I felt like for playing 40 snaps fresh out of not having pads on in 12 weeks, it was all right," he said.
Long reported a little soreness at halftime, according to coach Jeff Fisher, and could have sat out the second half, especially with the game already in hand. But he told Fisher he wanted to "get on the board" and sure enough, he picked up his sack in the second half.
Long had not missed a game since he was taken with the second pick in the 2008 draft and did not enjoy being on the sideline. About halfway through his absence, he told reporters he felt like a ghost sometimes for not being able to practice with his teammates. They missed him, too, especially those on the defensive line.
"Just having his energy back on the field is the most important thing," defensive tackle Michael Brockers said. "You see him running to the ball and him playing through injury. You see that, you're like, 'Yeah I can go.' We were missing our brother out there. Now we have him back, we're complete now."
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While Long has returned, he's not all the way back. "I'm suiting up," he said. "I figure that's good enough."
Long has experienced enough soreness since Sunday's game that he watched Wednesday and Thursday's practices from the sideline. But he can deal with sitting out practice when he knows he can go on Sunday. "It's just nice to be back in the flow of things," he said.
Though the Redskins (3-9) are coming off a 47-29 loss at Indianapolis, the Rams will need a defense at full strength. Quarterback Colt McCoy passed for 341 yards and three touchdowns after being named the starter ahead of Robert Griffin III and the Redskins put up 425 total yards for their best showing since September. Along with two games he played earlier this season, McCoy has completed 75.3 percent of 89 passes with only one interception.
"We obviously have respect and some concern for Colt, especially his production in his two games," Fisher said.
The Redskins, however, have been sacked more (35 times) than any team in the league except Jacksonville.
Long would not want to miss out on his chance to help add to that total. Of course, after missing three months, he doesn't want to miss out on anything else -- including the Monday morning soreness that goes with playing in the NFL.
You can follow Stan McNeal on Twitter at @StanMcNeal or email him at stanmcneal@gmail.com.
