Unfinished Business

After limping out of New England last season, the Chargers are getting back in shape for a legitimate run at a Super Bowl

IT’S THE SECOND DAY of July rookie camp. A welcome breeze rustles the orange flags that hang atop the yellow uprights at Chargers Park. Antonio Gates is dressed in dark blue from head to ... knees. The hulking Chargers tight end is sweating through his long-sleeve shirt and baggy shorts. Gates is rehabbing. He breaks and changes direction with seeming ease. As he walks off the practice field, a coterie of media stares down at Gates’ white cleats. All are wondering the same thing: “How’s that big toe?”

Injuries are a part of the bump-and-bang world of the NFL. Armchair quarterbacks might blame the Chargers’ AFC Championship Game loss to the New England Patriots on infirmities. Perhaps the 21-12 score could have been reversed if LaDanian Tomlinson hadn’t hyperextended his left knee. A running back isn’t a running back if a running back can’t run.

And what if Philip Rivers hadn’t torn the anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee in the Chargers’ 2007 playoff victory over the Indianapolis Colts? The gutsy young quarterback came into his own by strapping on a brace and playing hurt in the New England loss. But had he not been hobbled, maybe ... well ...

Here at Chargers Park, while Gates tests his temperamental left tootsie, Rivers takes snaps with the rookies. Do you realize his record as a regular-season starter in the NFL is 25-7, including a 15-1 home mark? Rivers is one of four Chargers QBs wearing red jerseys during camp. Like a traffic light, red means stop. As in “These are our quarterbacks, so hands off, linebackers.”

Eventually, though, we’ll have to put Gates and L.T. and Rivers back on the field. Please. As soon as possible. But will they be able to get back to form? They’ve been the linchpins of the Chargers offense. Rivers can give the ball to Tomlinson because defenses have to keep an eye on Gates. And Gates can spring free in the secondary because opposing teams try to cheat in to catch Tomlinson in the backfield.

This troika represents the team’s go-to gang. The running back and the QB will most likely start the season in position. The tight end is questionable. Nobody wants to compare these athletes to used cars. But face it, once you break down the first time, the trips to the repair shop tend to come more frequently. The head coach and any player in the locker room will tell you the Chargers are a talented and motivated squad. And that the team is more than one player, or even the sum of three. But ...

Every Bolt backer will be keeping his or her eyes on a couple of very special knees and one vitally important big toe.

HEAD COACH NORV TURNER doesn’t appear to be overly concerned about the physical well-being of his three marquee players.

“L.T. and Philip have gone through everything — the rehab — in the off-season and they’re back; they’re ready to go,” says Turner. “If we played a game [today] they’d be 100 percent. Antonio is on schedule to be ready. Any time you get injured, you have to heal. And these guys are doing a great job of getting themselves healed.”

Turner has indicated Tomlinson may not participate in more than a dozen plays during the four-game preseason schedule — even while the knee is 100 percent. It’s not likely Gates will be ready to play in the preseason. The optimistic outlook is that he’s ready for Week One, a September 7 home game versus the Carolina Panthers.

Gates dislocated his toe on January 6, in a first-round playoff victory over the Tennessee Titans. He chose to play in the next two postseason games but was ineffective. He finally had surgery February 27.

He doesn’t regret playing hurt.

“I don’t regret anything I’ve done, man,” he says. “You mostly regret things you don’t do. I was embracing an opportunity that some people don’t get in a career or a lifetime — to win a championship. The part I do regret was waiting to get the surgery.”

This was the first surgery for the 28-year-old Gates. “It was a new experience for me and my family,” he says. “A lot of people were like ‘Oh, it’s just a toe injury — it ain’t no problem.’ But it is a problem, especially the way I play. I’m a big jumper. You know, I’m a big cutter. I can’t jump and cut right now, and that’s the most depressing part about it.

“The trainers have done a tremendous job helping me. And they say, ‘Okay, it looks normal.’ But I say, ‘It doesn’t feel normal.’ I don’t think it’s going to feel 100 percent. But you don’t play in the NFL and have nothing bothering you — whether it’s your back or your hamstrings or your toe. I’m quite sure that when the Giants won the Super Bowl, there were guys out there that were hurt. That’s the kind of sport this is.”

Pain, surgery, rehab and recovery are all parts of the mission for the 2008 season Gates has dubbed “Unfinished Business.”

WEARING A KNEE BRACE is nothing new to Philip Rivers. At North Carolina State University, his coach liked all his quarterbacks to take the precaution of wearing braces on both knees. Rivers is not a particularly mobile QB, so he says wearing one brace this season won’t bother or slow him down.

During his rehab, Rivers says there were days he was grinding out his exercises and times when he nearly felt too tired to get up off the floor. But the soreness has gone, and he reports the knee flexion is 100 percent back to normal.

“You’re asking about me and L.T. and Antonio, but it’s been a long off-season for a lot of our guys — Nick Hardwick and a lot of guys have been out getting surgeries for injuries,” Rivers says. “Mentally, it’s challenging. You’re dealing with a tough ending to the season, and then you’re hurt. But you recover and get ready. I think we’ve all had the right approach, and we’re determined to get back out there.”

One approach he will take this year is to talk back less to opposing fans. “I think I’ll try to leave the fans alone—even though it’s really all been in fun,” he says. “There’s never been real animosity. But the way it’s portrayed in the media, I’m not gonna win that battle, so I’ll probably leave those guys alone.”

Rivers is on the record saying anything less than a Super Bowl will be a disappointment this season. “I think so,” he says. “We fell into a trap last year talking about the Super Bowl so much. We were disappointed last year. But we’ve built confidence through our playoff experience. We’ve been through the fire, and we know what it takes.”

Along with the right outlook and a good game plan, there’s just one other thing that will aid a run at the big trophy: staying out of the doctor’s office. 

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