Friday, Sep. 25, 2009

Steven Jackson asks for more opportunities

He's averaging just 18.5 touches per game

ST. LOUIS -- The more he gets the ball in his hands, the more effective St. Louis Rams running back Steven Jackson thinks he can be.

"I'm kind of like the streaky 3-point shooter,'' Jackson said. "The more I get a chance to touch the ball, the more I get a feel for what the defense is trying to do.

"Get that good lather (going), get going downhill and take advantage of the defense being fatigued.''

So far, the Rams have yet to get the ball in Jackson's hands more than 19 times in a game. He had 18 touches for 67 yards in their season-opening loss to the Seattle Seahawks and 19 touches for 119 yards in their loss to the Washington Redskins on Sunday.

Jackson averaged 27 touches in 2006 when he rushed for 1,528 yards and caught 90 passes for 806 yards.

Jackson's touches dipped to 23 per game in 2007 and 24 per game in 2008.

"He needs to be the focus of this team and this offense,'' Rams offensive coordinator Pat Shurmur said. "We're going to constantly make an effort to get him the football.''

Jackson has 33 carries, ranking him 14th among NFL running backs. He's averaging a more-than-respectable 5.2 yards per carry.

Jackson realizes that there are going to be growing pains with a new coaching staff and a group of young wide receivers.

"The coaching staff has to get to know its personnel,'' Jackson said. "Kind of the same story, but we have to allow our offensive staff and offensive coordinator to learn our personnel and see how guys react and what their bodies can take.

"Until we get to that comfortable understanding with one another, I just have to go out there and take advantage of the carries and receptions I do get.''

A major factor in how many touches that Jackson gets is how long the Rams have the ball.

The Redskins had the ball almost 10 more minutes than the Rams on Sunday.

The Redskins' time of possession was 35 minutes, 53 seconds compared with 25 minutes, 7 seconds for the Rams.

"That definitely effects it, when you're not able to have the ball a lot,'' Jackson said. "We have to win the time of possession. Our defense has been doing a great job of stopping people in the red zone and creating turnovers.

"But, we have to be able to win the time of possession by running the ball, picking up the third-and-short situations. We have to be able to grind on a defense so we can wear them down.''

The Rams' offense has produced an NFL-low seven points in two games.

"We're able to sustain drives,'' Jackson said. "In the Washington game -- I know we're not supposed to look back -- we had three drives with over 10 plays. We're converting on third downs, we're moving the ball. Now we just have to overcome the penalties and stuff we have been doing to ourselves. Take care of the ball, and when we get in the red zone, hopefully get seven points out of it. Or, at least three.

"It does come to down to execution. Not things the defense is taking away from us, but (things) we are taking away from ourselves.''

Jackson said the Rams players could be pressing on offense.

"I think we have a lot of guys out there who are trying to make plays,'' Jackson said. "All have good intentions, but for whatever reason, we're a little antsy, especially in the red-zone area.''

This Sunday's home opener against Green Bay is officially a sellout, though there could be a large number of Packers fans in the stands at the Edward Jones Dome.

Jackson said he didn't care if the stadium was overrun with Cheeseheads.

"At this point, I'll play at Wash U.,'' Jackson said of the Division III school (Washington University) located in St. Louis. "I just want to get a win.''