"Even with the preseason debut of Pro Bowler Steven Jackson, a Rams running game that looked so efficient last week was stuck in neutral most of the night against Tennessee's physical defense.

St. Louis had only 31 yards rushing at halftime, and just 36 entering the fourth quarter of Saturday's preseason contest at the Edward Jones Dome. The Rams held Jackson out of last week's exhibition opener against Indianapolis, which is not unusual. In the week leading up to the Tennessee game, his practice time was limited because of a sore hip.

Jackson played into the second quarter Saturday, but found the going rough. He carried six times for 10 yards, an average of just 1.7 yards a carry. In the passing game, he was targeted twice, catching one pass for four yards. Nonetheless, Jackson was happy to get his 2011 preseason going.

"It felt good," Jackson said. "It was the first live action I've had. It's a great feeling to see where I'm at, see where I mesh up with the offensive line and with the scheme ... As you can see, we still have some things we need to work on, but we're still making progress."

Cadillac Williams took over in the backfield with 10 minutes 41 seconds to play in the first half.

Injury update

Left tackle Rodger Saffold has been nursing a back injury, and after tweaking the back again on Saturday, exited a little earlier than planned.

"It's an injury that I dealt with in college and it just grabs me sometimes," Saffold said. "It's like a once-a-year thing; once I'm done with this I won't have to worry about it for a while."

Offensive lineman Randall Hunt, an undrafted rookie from the University of Illinois, was shaken up early in the third quarter with a right ankle injury, but missed only one play and returned on the Rams' next series."