"I just wasn't focused on football," he admitted. "I would go back and forth to be with him (in Huntsville) and then he passed during the season. Now, I feel he is looking over me. I have always had faith that my time would come sooner or later. I'm looking forward to the opportunity if it comes."

Samkon Gado was out of football all year after the Dolphins elected not to tender him as an exclusive rights free agent in February. He worked out six days a week, hoping for a call from a team, and was getting ready to send out applications for medical school and started a job Monday as a patient care assistant in the emergency room at Providence Hospital in Columbia, S.C.

That night, the call came from the Rams to come to St. Louis for a tryout. He credits offensive coordinator Al Saunders for the opportunity since Gado started out as a rookie free agent with the Chiefs in 2005 where Saunders was the offensive coordinator there.

Said Gado, "I talked to him in the summer and told him that I was trying to find a team. He told me to stay on him and if something opened up, he would be sure to give me a call. Sure enough he did."

Asked if he is ready to play after having no offseason program or training camp, Gado said, "I would not be here if I didn't think I could. You have to be ready when your number is called. If you knew how hard I worked, I think you would think that I am ready to play. I am very confident that I am."

--WR Torry Holt has seemed like an afterthought in the Rams' offense this season, and before Sunday's game against Arizona, Holt expressed his surprise at the developments.

Asked about his frustrations, Holt said, "When you go from getting as many opportunities and touches that I've had in the past to not nearly as many, yeah, there's definitely a sense of frustration." He discounted the notion that a bad knee that affected him last season has anything to do with his lack of production this year.

"I feel good," Holt said. "There's some soreness and tightness at times. I haven't been getting as much work during games, so I'm not tremendously sore on Mondays. It's not like I'm in the training room every day getting treatment. I haven't missed a practice. I get myself ready to help our team win on Sunday."

Holt, who had 93 receptions for 1,189 yards and seven touchdowns last season, now has just 32 catches for 347 yards and two scores after having six receptions for 58 yards and a touchdown all in the second half Sunday against the Cardinals. He's averaging just 10.8 yards per catch, and aside from a 45-yard touchdown play against the Giants, he has averaged just 9.4 yards.

Still, Holt believes he is the same player as in the past. "Yeah, I think so," he said. "I think I'm still getting open. I don't think you can go from what I did last year and the years before and just be (bad). I don't think it happens that way, not with the way I work and how passionate I am about the game of football. Obviously, I'm getting doubled, but I've beaten double-teams plenty of times throughout the course of my career."

When he was asked if he feels he's being phased out, Holt said, "At times, I do. Who knows? It's an adjustment. (But) we've still got eight more games left, and we'll see how those games go. Once the season's over with, then come back and ask me and we'll see how I feel."

After the loss to Arizona, coach Jim Haslett was asked about Holt's comments. He said, "I understand. He's not catching as many balls as he had in the past. The guy has caught a lot of passes over his career. We are a little bit different football team right now. We have a bunch of young receivers. You have a line that hasn't been together long. The running back situation is in flux. We haven't had Steven (Jackson), in and out the whole year. It's just the situation more than anything.

"I thought he did a good job in the second half. He made some nice catches, had some run after the catch. I thought he was outstanding in that one where he had a nice touchdown. Nobody is trying to phase him out. We only have one football and it's just the way it goes. He'll be fine. I understand his complaint. I'd be disappointed in him if he didn't feel that way. I'd be disappointed in all these guys if they didn't feel like they could help this football team."

--Coach Jim Haslett is curious to see how his team handles the adversity of two straight losses after winning the first two games after taking over for Scott Linehan.

Said Haslett, "We're in a situation right now where we just lost two games in a row, we're going on the road to play a good football team, with maybe the best quarterback that ever played the game. You're down, you're injured, you've got a bunch of nicks and bruises, and who the heck knows who's going to play. ... This should be a great challenge for us to see if we go up and respond."

BY THE NUMBERS: 7 -- Of the 10 main defensive categories in league rankings, the Rams rank 28th or lower in seven.

QUOTE TO NOTE: "We're not going to change our approach. The most important thing is that we go try to get a win this week. ... I don't think you can look ahead. You've just got to take it one game at a time. It changes every week. Your personnel changes, the game changes, the situation changes every week. It's just how you handle it." -- Coach Jim Haslett on entering the second half of the season after losing two straight games.