True enough, Jackson talked about it during his Monday radio show on 101 ESPN in St. Louis.

Q: What is it about you and Aaron Curry? It seems like you two just can't seem to get along?

Jackson: "Well, I'm going to tell you one thing. This I will speak freely on. Some guys don't know how to be pros, and I feel yet he has not learned that yet.

"Someone's over there not teaching him what it means to be a pro. It's all right to jaw jack, but unnecessary hits and taking shots at guys that are defenseless or going after guys because they are high-profile guys and he's trying to make a name for himself is not professional.

"You don't get your name based on that because you're going after another high-profile guy. You get your name or your status because of your work or your play. I'm just sitting there jaw-jacking a guy and letting him now know that I'm not backing down. It's obvious that I'm injured, it's obvious that I haven't practiced all week. If we want to go head-to-head 60 or 70 plays in a row, I'm willing to do so. I'm not going to back down.

"So I was letting him know it's a whole 'nother monster, a whole 'nother level in the NFL and this is not Wake Forest or wherever else, the ACC."

Q: That's how you get a name trying to mess with guys like you. The guy has some ability, but I don't know, some guys just get so excited when they're out there, they think because of where they're drafted they're expected to play a certain style of football.

Jackson: "I don't see our rookie, No. 2 pick overall [Jason Smith] going out and doing that. It's easy to make a name in other ways than going out there, jaw-jacking and trying to bring attention to yourself. It's a professional game, this is a livelihood, and I don't intentionally go out there trying to, you know, I just don't. I'm a pro about it. I would hope that he learns that."

[Vallley Girl voice]: Oh snap. No he didn't.

Yes, yes he did.

Of course, Curry's not the silent type, either.

Curry said after the first game against St. Louis on Sept. 13 that he went onto the field with the intention of "talking their heads off." He certainly got the Rams entire offense riled up, culminating in a 15-yard personal-foul penalty assessed to Jackson at the end of the first half. But Curry isn't entirely a persona non grata with St. Louis. On the field after that regular-season opener, he chatted with Smith, a player he knew from the lead-up to the draft when both were top 10 picks.

As for what happened Sunday in St. Louis, here's a quote from Curry regarding Jackson after the game.

"I guess it's like a battle for respect," Curry said, "and being a rookie I just don't see myself backing down. The first time I played him he verbally assaulted me, but he's a good dude. I don't knows what his intentions are, but I think it's like, who's going to lose their cool first and it isn't going to be me.

"I respect him as a running back. I respect him for how he runs the ball, but everyone has to understand that we're all grown men out here and nobody's going to back down from any human being. That's just not what I was taught."