St. Louis Rams running back Steven Jackson highlighted a small group of players sitting out during Thursday afternoon's late practice at Rams Park. Jackson is getting some rest from the team as they turned up the heat on the younger players who will likely see more time in Sunday's preseason opener. Jackson joined a notable group of players on the sidelines dealing with a laundry list of minor ailments.

Out of practice on Thursday, with what the team described as "non-serious soft tissue injuries" were: WR Danario Alexander, WR Brandon Gibson, S Darian Stewart, CB Bradley Fletcher, RB Steven Jackson and LT Rodger Saffold.

The only player to be concerned about in that bunch is Danario Alexander, as noted early and often through training camp this year, DX is battling for a roster spot and every rep counts. He has tremendous talent, but if two days of work on the practice field are going to send him to the sideline, then it makes it tough for the team to maximize his production.

Scott Wells is getting closer. He did sprints on the sidelines Thursday. On Tuesday, GM Les Snead said that Wells has been working with Bradford and the offensive line. He was just limited in his on-field work.

Wells had a knee scope, the same thing Trent Richardson had this week. Richardson should be out until the first week of the season, an optimistic timetable. Wells has been out since May. Hmmm, something seems askew here.