Monday, October 25 Updated: October 28, 3:45 PM ET Faulk putting up healthy numbers Associated Press |
|||||||||||||
ST. LOUIS -- Marshall Faulk can make tacklers miss even when he's sick.
"Marshall is unlimited," coach Dick Vermeil said. "He really is unlimited in what he can do." Faulk ran for 133 yards on 16 carries in the Rams' 34-3 victory, including a 33-yard score on a busted play in which he eluded several Browns tacklers. He also caught nine passes for 67 yards, twice dragging defenders to the Browns' 1-yard line to set up touchdown catches for tight end Roland Williams. This despite dehydration that forced him to the locker room before halftime in search of IV fluids. Faulk checked into Barnes-West Hospital about 11:30 p.m. Saturday, complaining of a combination of flu-like symptoms and possible food poisoning. He checked out at 7:30 a.m. Sunday. "I'm not sure what I had," Faulk said. "The doctors don't even know what I had. I don't want to give it a name; I don't want to see it again." Whatever the illness was, he wouldn't let it slow him down. "I was going to try to play regardless of how I felt," Faulk said. "He didn't look sick to me," guard Adam Timmerman said. "If you didn't know, you probably wouldn't have any idea." Faulk has been everything the Rams had hoped for since they acquired him from the Colts before the draft for second- and fifth-round picks. A 12-day training camp holdout before he signed a seven-year, $45.1 million deal contributed to a bit of a slow start, but he's well on his way to becoming the Rams' first 1,000-yard rusher since Jerome Bettis in 1994. The last two weeks, he has rushed for 314 yards -- one more yard than the Rams' leading rusher last year, June Henley, had all season. Faulk was the NFL's top all-purpose back last season with 2,227 yards rushing and receiving, the sixth-highest total in NFL history. Thus far this year he leads the NFC with 795 total yards. He's fourth in the NFC in rushing with 502 yards and a 5.7-yard average and tied for sixth in receiving with 31 catches for 293 yards. Faulk, who caught 86 passes last year, again leads all running backs in receptions. Faulk was at his dazzling best on the 33-yard run in the fourth quarter. He created a hole and shook loose with several direction changes, then won a sprint to the end zone. "There really wasn't a lot out there, and he made something happen," Timmerman said. "He just kind of has some special skills." Vermeil said that play should have been a 4-yard gain. Faulk didn't know why the run was such a success. "They lined up in a defense we weren't expecting and ran a stunt we didn't expect, and it didn't get blocked right, and we scored a touchdown on it," Faulk said. "I'm just out there playing, not really thinking about anything, just trying to be effective and get positive yards."
|
|