As Steve Jackson holdout nears almost a month, the St. Louis Dispatch reports that he and the Rams have had no recent dialogue about extending his contract.

So the holdout continues. As of Sunday, the Pro Bowl running back had missed 24 days of training camp and the preseason, 24 practices and two preseason games. At $15,116 per day, his fine total stands at $362,784 — or just under the minimum base salary for a second-year NFL player.

For the first time, Rams coach Scott Linehan conceded Sunday that time is of the essence in getting Jackson ready for the season opener Sept. 7 in Philadelphia.

“It is getting critical to where time now becomes more of an issue for just the physical part of getting ready for the opener,” Linehan said. “Every day we miss now … does start to factor in as to what the workload will be from the start.

One has to believe that the Rams will eventually get this mess figured out, but will it be sooner rather than later? Antonio Pittman has received the bulk of the carries in the preseason and while he has shown flashes of potential, he can’t duplicate what Jackson does for the Rams’ offense in both the running and passing game. And at only 25 years old, Jackson is just starting to reach his prime so it’s imperative that St. Louis reaches a deal with the star back.