Bartell Say's He's Playing Sunday

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Bartell says he's playing Sunday

BY JIM THOMAS
Thursday, October 21, 2010

Ron Bartell missed practice Thursday for the second day in a row because of a quad muscle injury. But the veteran cornerback says he's playing Sunday when the St. Louis Rams travel to Florida to play the Tampa Bay Buccaneers

"I'll be ready to go Sunday," Bartell said. "It's nothing like last year at all. Last year I was dealing with more of a strain, a pulled muscle. This is just a bruise. So it was just a matter of getting the swelling down so I could kind of work through the soreness."

Bartell missed only one game last season with the more severe quad injury, but probably should have sat out a couple of more contests. The nagging injury bothered him much of the year.

This year, despite some troubles with dropped interceptions, Bartell has been back on his game. He leads the Rams with eight pass breakups.

Cornerback Justin King (hamstring) and safety Darian Stewart (hamstring) also missed practice Thursday, but their status remains doubtful for Tampa Bay.

Defensive tackle Clifton Ryan again sat out practice after a reoccurrence of migraine headaches and will probably miss his sixth straight game. Wide receiver Mardy Gilyard (hamstring) was limited.

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You know, a lot of people give Bartell crap, but this guy is a warrior. Last year, on a 1-15 football team, when no one would have questioned him if he sat out, he played and fought through injury. Are their more talented corners in the league? Sure, but Ron has the intangibles that make me proud he is a Ram.