ST. LOUIS -- In the weeks following the shooting of wide receiver Stedman Bailey, news of his progress has come to the St. Louis Rams via a middleman.

More often than not, that middleman was coach Jeff Fisher. But before Thursday night's game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Fisher decided to eliminate himself from the equation, giving his team an emotional lift in the process.

With a little help from modern technology and the Rams' video team, Bailey used video chat to speak directly to the entire team on Thursday afternoon. Fisher arranged for Bailey to connect from his Miami-area hospital via a tablet, which was then projected onto a big screen for the entire team to see. For almost everyone in the room, it was the first time talking to or seeing Bailey since he was shot twice in the head Nov. 24.

"It was just awesome to see him," linebacker James Laurinaitis said. "That was the first time seeing him since everything happened. He let us know that he's been appreciative of all the prayers and everything.

"He just wanted to let us know he was appreciative and wanted us to go out here and kick some tail. It was awesome to see him. He let us know he's rehabbing, jogging up and down the halls and stuff. It was really uplifting to the guys to be able to see him. You hear so much, but to be able to actually hear his voice and see him smile, I'm not sure words can be put to the emotion in that room."

Perhaps no words were necessary, as the Rams' 31-23 victory against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers spoke to what Bailey means to his teammates. If the final score wasn't enough, the Rams made it clear throughout the game.

When receivers Tavon Austin and Kenny Britt were introduced before the game, they held up a single finger on one hand and two fingers on the other in honor of Bailey's No. 12. After Austin's second touchdown, he held up the 1-2 again.

"I represent for 12 every day," said Austin, who also was a teammate of Bailey's at West Virginia. "It ain't never going nowhere. 'Til the day I step off this field, he's going to be with me. That's how I'm always going to feel about it."

Defensive end William Hayes took it one step further, writing a big 1 and 2 on the yellow stripes on the front of his helmet.

"Just to let Sted know I was thinking about him," Hayes said. "That was probably one of the guys I joke with the most between him, Tavon and a couple other guys. When I first heard about it, it hurt. That's my brother. I just wanted him to know I'm thinking about him and I love him and I'm happy for him. I'm happy to see him progressing every day."

Hayes knows that altering an NFL uniform can result in a fine, but he believes his message was a positive one.

"If the NFL wants to fine me for putting the number 12 on my helmet, I'm OK with it," Hayes said. "I just want them to know the purpose was just to let my guy know that I was thinking about him and the love I got for him. It wasn't to try to go against the grain. It was just to let people know to keep him in your prayers. He's still got an uphill battle trying to get back in this game and play again, but the dude is progressing every day. Hopefully we can just keep praying for him, and I just wanted to honor him tonight."

Earlier this week, Fisher said Bailey is continuing to make gains at the recovery facility in Florida. More important, he said there was hope Bailey would be released from the hospital in the next week or so, likely even before Christmas. Bailey tweeted some news of that progress Wednesday, when he let the world know that he was jogging the halls of the hospital.

If that wasn't enough, Bailey tweeted during a game for the first time since the shooting, as the Rams took an early lead against Tampa Bay.

My boys came to play!! @KennyBritt_18 @Tayaustin01 I love y'all boys man keep it up. I'm n my hospital bed on 100! Let's go rams — STEDMAN BAILEY SR (@iamSB3) December 18, 2015

Bailey also retweeted six other tweets during and after the game, most of which were highlights involving his teammates paying tribute to him. With this victory in the books, the Rams will get the weekend off before returning to work next week.

Austin and a handful of his teammates plan to use the time to visit Bailey in the Miami area.

No, Bailey didn't go out and block, tackle or catch any passes on Thursday. But actually seeing and communicating with him before the game certainly didn't hurt the Rams' cause.

"If he's here or not, he's part of this family," tight end Jared Cook said. "We love him, and we are praying for him. It's an unfortunate situation that he went through that had nothing to do with him, but he's going to be part of this team, and he's always going to ride for us. He gave us a little pregame message, and I think we kind of took the initiative to go out there and play for him."