East St. Louis High linebacker Demond Hunt was an honored guest at Rams practice Thursday. Hunt spent more than a month at Cardinal Glennon Children’s Medical Center after suffering a series of strokes after a blood vessel burst in his brain during a game Oct. 3.

Hunt was presented with a blue Rams game jersey with his name on the back and his Flyers No. 13. Also, WR Torry Holt pulled off his practice jersey and gave it to Hunt, who broke the team huddle at the end of practice and then had lunch with several players in the team cafeteria.

“It meant a lot,” Hunt said. “It showed me they care about different people in the area, so I came up here and showed support, and they gave me love.”

Hunt said he’s improving steadily. “I’m getting better . . . my memory’s coming back. Every day I’m getting better.”

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Steven Jackson must be starting to feel like a pug boxer: He’s up, he’s down, he’s up, he’s down . . .

Just when it looked as if Jackson was about ready to rejoin the lineup, his strained thigh muscle acted up again and he sat out practice Thursday. On Wednesday, Jackson took about half the reps with the No. 1 offense and said he “thought I was pretty much there.” But when he awoke Thursday, his leg was “a little swollen and a little stiff.”

So, it was back to the sideline for Jackson, who was injured in the fourth quarter Oct. 19 at Dallas, tried to play two weeks later without success, and had been mostly shut down since then. Jackson still hopes to get in a full workout Friday and play Sunday in San Francisco. Jim Haslett isn’t nearly so optimistic.

“I doubt if it’ll happen to be honest with you, but we’ll see. You never know,” Haslett said.

Meanwhile, the frustration mounts for Jackson, who originally thought he’d miss only a practice or two after the original injury.

“I really did not think I would miss a game, let alone two or three.” he said. “It’s frustrating because I thought it was just a strain and it would need a couple days off and I would back. For it to linger like this, it really makes you think about what is really going on there.”

Jackson reported that two MRI exams have disclosed no tear in the muscle, just inflammation and swelling. “Unless it is a tear that we can’t see — and I’m no expert at looking at MRIs — it’s still considered a strain,” he said.

In retrospect, Jackson said he probably shouldn’t have attempted to come back Nov. 2 at Arizona. He reaggravated the thigh that afternoon.

“As a football player, you were always told that you can play hurt but not injured, and we’ve been treating it as if I’m just hurt. Maybe we should start treating it like I’m injured,” he said. “I don’t blame anyone. Not the staff, because I wanted to get out there more than anybody. Maybe I have to sit myself down and allow it to heal itself.”

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Notes & quotes:

*Rookie T John Greco left practice after injuring his patellar tendon and was scheduled for an MRI.

*RBs Antonio Pittman and Kenneth Darby worked with the first team.

All for now . . .