ST. LOUIS -- Dealing with a right ankle injury hasn't slowed down Chris Long's pursuit of opposing quarterbacks.
The 6-foot-3, 270-pound Long has 12 sacks this season, although his streak of six sacks in six games was broken in Monday night's 30-13 loss at Seattle.
Long, the No. 2 overall draft choice in 2008, did not practice for the second consecutive day on Thursday.
Rams coach Steve Spagnuolo said he believed Long will be limited in practice this week, as he has been before the past two games. The Rams will host the Cincinnati Bengals (7-6) on Sunday. Long plans on playing in the game.
"The injury has been an up and down thing through the week, but Sundays are a sure thing," Long said.
The right ankle injury is bothersome and serious. He hurt it in the home loss Nov. 27 to Seattle. It was a passing play and Long went out to get quarterback Tarvaris Jackson and someone clipped Long's leg and he hurt his ankle.
"I knew someone was wrong with it right away and these types of injuries tend to linger," Long said. "It bugs me not being able to practice. I'd like to be out there. With this type of deal, they try to limit the wear and tear on it.
"They just try to get me to Sunday and they've done a great job getting me to Sunday. I've tried to keep it rolling."
Notes: QB Sam Bradford did not practice Thursday. "It's kind of day to day depending on how it feels," Spagnuolo said. ... QB Kellen Clemens took all the first-team snaps in practice. ... RB Steven Jackson enters Sunday's game 105 yards shy of his seventh straight 1,000-yard season. That has been accomplished only by Barry Sanders, Curtis Martin, LaDainian Tomlinson, Emmitt Smith, Thurman Thomas and Eric Dickerson in NFL history.
Copyright 2011 by The Associated Press
