After missing the entire spring practice program following back surgery, Steven Jackson is expected to be back on the field Saturday when the Rams hold their first full-squad workout of training camp.

"He's somewhat cleared to go," coach Steve Spagnuolo said Tuesday at Rams Park.

Spagnuolo hedged only because Rams doctors, in what is routine procedure for players coming off surgery, will have another look at Jackson's back before Saturday.

"But he feels great," Spagnuolo said. "Probably only because it's a back (injury), we'll tread lightly. But I think he'll do most everything."

After trying to get healthy through rest and rehab, Jackson underwent surgery to repair a herniated disc in April. Spagnuolo said he doesn't expect Jackson's preseason routine to be much different from what it was last season.

"I don't think that will change," Spagnuolo said. "We want to get him ready. He wants to go, and he wants to be ready. And we'll have him ready for the opening game (of the regular season). But if you're talking about the preseason games, we'll be smart about it."

Since taking over for Marshall Faulk in 2005 as the Rams' feature back, Jackson hasn't seen much action during the preseason. Last season, Jackson had only 11 touches in exhibition play, with 10 carries and one reception.

As for the training camp practices themselves, it's doubtful Jackson will do the live tackling drills that characterized Spagnuolo's first camp in St. Louis last summer.

In fact, Spagnuolo hinted Tuesday that there might be fewer live tackling sessions in the camp regimen this season.

"There will be some of that in there; we'll pick and choose," Spagnuolo said. "It's funny. I banged my head against the wall in the offseason when I was putting the whole practice schedule together. You walk that fine line.

"You want your team to be tough. You want to be able to tackle. You want to be able to block and do all those things, and I don't think you just flip a switch and do it on game day. So you've got to work on it. (But) if you work on it too much and you get guys banged up and you don't have a team, that's not good either."

One definite change in the camp schedule this year is fewer twice-daily practices. Last season there were two practices of some sort almost every day, although sometimes one of the practices was a special-teams session.

This training camp, 10 of the 18 scheduled days of full-squad practices have one practice session. No two-a-days will be held on consecutive days. And Spagnuolo has scheduled six evening practices this camp — seven if you count the Aug. 7 team scrimmage at Lindenwood University.

The Rams had no evening practices other than the Lindenwood scrimmage a year ago. Spagnuolo said there are a couple of reasons for the evening practices this year:

• They help players cope with the summer heat.

• They give fans who work during the day a chance to watch the team.

The evening workouts also give the players more recovery time between practice sessions. But don't think Spagnuolo is going soft on his players. He said that one of the reasons for scheduling only one practice on so many days is to hold longer practices on those days.

"When you do two-a-days, you really can't have either of those practices be too long," Spagnuolo said. "And I think that the players, when all of a sudden you get to the games and you're in uniform for 3 1/2 hours, you're not used to that. Now, we're not going to practice for 3 1/2 hours, but I do think the one-a-day will give us an opportunity to practice longer."

On five of the 10 days when there is only one practice, those sessions are scheduled to last 2 1/2 hours. The other five are scheduled to last between 1 1/2 hours and 2 hours, 15 minutes.

Jackson isn't the only player coming off surgery or an injury. But Spagnuolo said almost all of the others are ready to go, assuming they pass pre-camp physicals.

The list includes offensive guard Roger Allen III (knee), safety Oshiomogho Atogwe (shoulder), offensive guard Jacob Bell (knee), tight end Daniel Fells (knee), cornerback Bradley Fletcher (knee), long snapper Chris Massey (knee), offensive tackle Rodger Saffold (knee) and offensive tackle Jason Smith (toe).

"Now, some of them will be limited, but all of those guys will be practicing, which is a good sign," Spagnuolo said.

The only exception is guard/center Mark Setterstrom, who underwent surgery June 23 to repair a triceps injury he suffered during the team's minicamp that month.

"We're going to have to make a roster move or a decision (on Setterstrom)," Spagnuolo said. "It'll either be IR (injured reserve) or PUP (physically unable to perform)."

The PUP designation leaves open the possibility that Setterstrom could attempt to return around midseason. The injured-reserve designation would end Setterstrom's year. It's a tough call because Spagnuolo said it's a four- to six-month recovery period. Four months means Setterstrom could be back by mid-October; six months takes him to mid-December.