"It's good, good to go," Pace said following Thursday's practice at Rams Park. "It's a lot better than I thought."

Wearing a brace on the knee, Pace appeared to move better Thursday than he did during Wednesday's practice. Last week's game against Chicago marked the 25th game Pace has missed because of injuries in the Rams' past 43 contests. The seven-time Pro Bowler wants to play Sunday.

"I do, man. I do," Pace said.

Slow starters

Coach Jim Haslett is determined to find a way to keep his team in the game against Miami by halftime. Not only have the Rams been outscored 123-13 in the first halves of their past four contests, they have been minus 7 in takeaway-giveaway differential in that span.

"We have to take care of the ball," Haslett said. "Ball control is a priority and taking care of the ball is a priority. Not getting yourself in a bad position. Somehow, by the halfway part of this game, our players have to feel like they can win this game. We talked about that as a team and as a coaching staff, and we have to find a way as coaches to get it done."

still not ready

With injuries to both shoulders, middle linebacker Will Witherspoon got very little work in practice Thursday. Haslett said there's a chance that rookie David Vobora will start in Witherspoon's place against the Dolphins.

Nowhere to run

The Rams' 14-yard rushing output last week against Chicago was the fourth-worst output in franchise history. The 1942 Rams were held to minus 29 yards rushing against Washington; the 2005 Rams rushed for only six yards against Arizona; and the '42 Rams were held to 10 yards against the Chicago Bears .

Out of the hunt

The Rams were officially eliminated from playoff contention as a result of last Sunday's 27-3 loss to Chicago. The only teams eliminated from playoff contention after 11 games were the Rams and Detroit.

Rare visitors

Sunday marks only the third visit by the Dolphins to St. Louis to play the Rams. In 1995, in what proved to be coach Don Shula's last regular-season game, Miami pounded St. Louis 41-22, behind 290 yards passing and two touchdown passes by quarterback Dan Marino.

Six years later, Mike Martz's eventual Super Bowl XXXVI runners-up routed the Dolphins 42-10 behind four TD passes from Kurt Warner and 160 total yards and three TDs by Marshall Faulk.

Ram-blings

Afternoon meetings were canceled Thursday, giving players a chance to spend a little extra time with family and friends on Thanksgiving. Most players were gone before 2 p.m. ... The coaches worked till about 4 p.m. ... A crew from 75 Production in Paris is at Rams Park filming a documentary on practice squad player Sebastian Sejean, a safety who is a native of France.