Davis tempers his TD celebration

Thursday, Aug 30, 2007
By Tom Shanahan, Chargers.com

The catch marked the first pro football touchdown for Chargers rookie wide receiver Buster Davis, but he wasn't ready to fully celebrate for a couple of reasons.

One, it came in a preseason game, a 16-13 win by the Chargers Thursday night against the San Francisco 49ers at Qualcomm Stadium as the Bolts finished with a 3-1 preseason record.

"It feels good to get in the end zone, but it's just preseason and I'm not content with that," Davis said. "I've got to get ready for the rest of the season."

Two, he's still recovering from having four wisdom teeth removed last week. Anyone who has been through the procedure can relate.

"It still hurts, and I tried to stay away from the offensive lineman coming to congratulate me and head butting me," said Davis, the Chargers' first-round draft pick out of LSU.

Davis, who missed last week's Arizona game because of the oral surgery and was limited in practice this week while recovering, used his speed to run under a 40-yard touchdown pass from No. 3 quarterback Charlie Whitehurst with 1:53 left in the first half for a 13-3 lead.

It was an impressive display of the rookie's potential as a deep-ball threat. That's a passing-game feature the Chargers lacked last year and hope to utilize this year.

On-a-first-10 play, Davis got behind the defense down the left sideline and made the catch with San Francisco safety Dashon Goldson lunging to stay with him. Davis caught the ball just inside the 5-yard line and his momentum carried him into the end zone with the ball safely cradled away.

The 49ers challenged the call, claiming Davis was down at the 1-yard line. But the officials reviewed the play and the touchdown ruling on the field stood.

"It was a good play call by Coach (Norv) Turner," Davis said. "I want to be consistent making plays like that this year."

Chargers starting quarterback Philip Rivers, who was held out of the game in preparation for the season opener Sept. 9 against the Chicago Bears at Qualcomm, said Davis is already consistent in practice.

"I've seen him make those plays on the left side and the right side in practice," Rivers said. "It wasn't a surprise, but it was good to see him get in the end zone."

Other reasons the Chargers drafted Davis with the 30th pick overall are he has good hands -- Turner thinks he has the best hands of the five wide receivers taken in the first round -- and he has a running ability to gain yards after the catch on pass patterns underneath the defense.

Davis had caught three balls for 20 yards in the first two preseason games before missing last week. He caught two for 48 yards against the 49ers.

He said he should be fully recovered from the lingering pain from the oral surgery in a day or so and expects to 100 percent for the season opener.

"(The wisdom teeth) had bothered me before, but this time it kind of popped up and I had to get them taken out," Davis said. "It slowed me down a little because it hurt and was hard to be aggressive with my blocking. But I'm looking forward to working hard and getting ready for the first game."