It came down to the wire, but after testing himself in pregame warmups, Steven Jackson is ready to go and will play on Sunday vs. the Chicago Bears.

SJ will play against the Bears (Getty Images).Steven missed practice this week as he recovered from a groin strain suffered during last week’s 31-28 win over the Washington Redskins. But No. 39 spent the week prepping and was determined to play. He proved he was ready on Sunday morning.

“I’ve played through worse injuries before,” Steven said earlier in the week. “But we’ve still got to take it day to day. I’m looking forward to seeing how I feel on Sunday. Coach Fisher’s giving me the chance to still be able to play.”

Coach Jeff Fisher said on Thursday that as long as he was ready to go on Sunday, missing practive would not be an issue for SJ.

“I don’t have a policy where you have to practice to play,” Fisher said. “Be realistic. He’s been in the league how many years? He knows his body, he knows this offense, I’m not concerned about that.”

In Chicago, Steven will face one of the toughest defenses in the league. Over the first two weeks of the season, the Bears have allowed just 169 yards on the ground, among the top 10 run stopping teams in the league. But the Bears got beat last week by a Packers team that put together a balanced attack with 28 runs and 23 passes. Similarly in their Week 2 win over Washington, the Rams were balanced with 35 passes and 27 runs.

S-Jax believes the Rams are a more well-rounded team in 2012 than they have been in years past and that could lead them to another big win on Sunday in Chicago. In his last game against the Bears, SJ39 ran for 112 yards on 28 carries at Soldier Field, but the Rams failed to score a touchdown and lost 17-9. SJ says it’s a different team that rolls into the Windy City this afternoon.

“I believe the characters are here. We have a playmakers on both sides of the ball,” Steven said. “On special teams we have a special kicker and punter and guys getting after the other teams’ core. I think we have playmakers, we have depth at pretty much every position now and we have a lot of young guys. When you have young guys, you’re going to have a lot of energy.”

Sunday’s kickoff is scheduled for Noon CDT and the game can be seen on FOX.

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