Gates feeling better

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Monday, Aug 18, 2008
By Casey Pearce, Chargers.com

Antonio Gates has done his best to keep his chin up throughout an offseason that has been both mentally and physically difficult for the All-Pro tight end. That task hasn’t been as difficult the last few days as Gates is seeing and feeling his surgically repaired toe make good progress.

Saturday night prior to the Chargers’ preseason game in St. Louis, Gates took the field and ran routes with quarterback Philip Rivers. While he’s been running, cutting and conditioning on the side for a few weeks now, Saturday’s session was the most significant on-field work Gates had done since his February operation.

“I feel like we’re at the beginning of phase two,” Gates said. “I’m back out there doing some football stuff. A couple days from now I want to go out and do individuals, kind of start phase three and just work my way back into practice. Hopefully that happens soon.”

Throughout the process, Gates has kept his focus on the Carolina Panthers with hopes of getting back on the field in time for the regular season open. His progress in recent weeks has him and his coaches feeling good about that goal.

“I was extremely impressed with the workout (Saturday),” Head Coach Norv Turner said. “It looked a lot like the workouts he’s been having the last couple of weeks. I think the recovery each time he does that work out gets better and he’s still on target to play when the season starts. What he’s able to do over the next ten days, we will just have to wait and see.”

Gates is candid as he speaks of the emotional strain he’s experienced throughout the spring, but as he feels his toe getting better he also feels his spirits lifting.

“At first I was just so depressed because it’s like you hit a wall,” Gates said. “My goal was to be ready for the season. At one point I wasn’t real sure that was going to happen but now I do.”

As has been the case throughout his rehab, Gates’ biggest challenge is dealing with the soreness that comes each time he pushes himself. He’s been told that the pain is a normal part of the process and Gates is learning to temper it.

“Every time it feels better I go harder, so it just brings it right back to where it was,” Gates said. “I’m trying to determine at what point it gets sore because then I’ll stop before it gets real sore. When it gets sore I think, ‘I’ve got to get through this.’ Then I keep going, it gets more sore and I’m back to limping in my walk. I’ve tried to be patient and tried to be smart. This is another step where I just have to do both of those things.”

Turner praised his star tight end Monday for his resiliency this offseason and spoke of how excited he’ll be to get Gates back on the field when it happens.

“Every time he goes out he says he feels better, he says he feels less pain, it recovers faster,” Turner said. “It’s an impressive sight to watch the guy run routes and workout and go and obviously when he’s going and part of our group we are a substantially better football team.”

Rivers ready to play

Rivers didn’t see the field Saturday night in St. Louis, simply because Turner didn’t think playing his starting quarterback was the best decision considering the circumstances.

“We’ve got two lineman out, we’re playing with two young backs, we were playing a blitzing team,” Turner said. “I didn’t feel he needed to test how many times he could get hit or pounded to find out how tough he is. He’s proven that to me.”

Turner will decide later this week just how much his starters will play against Seattle next Monday, but it will bring an extensive amount of time for Rivers and company.

“I look forward to playing a significant amount, go out there and stringing a handful of plays together,” Rivers said. “You approach every game like you’re going the whole game but this is one you really can. The third one, you can really go and know you’re going to be in there a while.”

Other injuries

Running back Darren Sproles’ knee was a bit swollen after colliding with a Rams defender Saturday night while returning a punt, but there was no structural damage and Sproles didn’t miss a beat in practice.

Offensive lineman Scott Mruczkowski will miss a few days after suffering a plantar fascia tear. Those not practicing Monday included Luis Castillo (back), Marcus McNeill (neck), Vincent Jackson (hamstring) and Shawne Merriman (knee, rest).

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