There are three games left for the Rams if they don't make the playoffs. This team has to start looking toward the future. Like every year, there will be players fans want to stay on the team, but the team might figure that it's time to move on.

Steven Jackson is trying his best not to be one of those players.

On the field this year, Jackson is less then 200 yards away from 1,000 rushing yards, for the eighth straight season. And off the field he's saying all the right things.

SJ39 on if he'll look around the dome more pregame Sun bc it could be last gm w #stlrams"I won't because I expect to be back next year."

— David Solomon, covers for The Big 550, KTRS (@solomonsside) December 13, 2012

Before the season there was a report by Michael Lombardi stating that Jackson wanted to redo his contract and become a free agent. Of course, this was brushed under the rug, and it was marked as a talking head just trying to create storylines before the NFL Draft. Obviously, we know that Lombardi was right. The Rams agreed to void his contract and let him walk after this season.

This whole situation is odd though. The question still remains: Does Steven Jackson really want to stay here? Is he just playing fan favorite to keep the fans on his side just in case? Or maybe Jackson wanted to leave, but now he enjoys playing with the new coaching staff, and likes the direction that this team is headed.

It's almost impossible to predict what this new regime of Jeff Fisher and Les Snead will decide to do with Steven Jackson during the off-season.

They did draft Isaiah Pead in the second round, and they have to like what they have seen from Daryl Richardson so far in his rookie season. But even though the Rams don't know what they have in their young backs, they do know what they have in Steven Jackson. He's the heart of the Rams.