Provided he can work another full practice Friday, rookie tailback Ryan Mathews will get more carries Sunday at St. Louis.
Mathews returned to practice Thursday and worked without limitation a day after sitting out with soreness in his still-healing sprained ankle.
“We want to push it and get him as many carries as we can," head coach Norv Turner said. "He worked last Thursday and obviously was real sore on Friday and wasn’t able to do as much as we would like. I think from watching him today, and hopefully everything goes smooth tonight and he feels good in the morning, that we will be able to up his load a little bit."
Mathews has shown great speed and moves when allowed to run, but his having missed practice time due to the ankle and having trouble holding onto the ball in the first two games has limited him to 43 carries. Still, he has 218 rushing yards and also 44 yards on five catches, and Turner has been candid about wanting Mathews to ascend to being the No.1 ballcarrier.
