Gates studies Patriots' defense

Friday, Jan 12, 2007
By Tom Shanahan, Chargers.com

LaDainian Tomlinson, the Chargers’ NFL MVP running back, must have known X’s and O’s were swimming around in the mind of teammate Antonio Gates.

On Monday, Tomlinson sat among the media awaiting his turn at the podium as Gates went first and answered questions about the New England Patriots, the Chargers’ opponent Sunday in an AFC Divisional Round playoff game at Qualcomm Stadium.

“Do you expect to be bracketed at all by the safety and corners and linebackers,” Tomlinson asked the Bolts’ three-time Pro Bowl tight end.

Gates grinned and replied, “When you have LaDainian Tomlinson in the backfield, they tend to focus on him. I try to do my part in getting open and taking some pressure off him.”

He answered LT’s question like a student of the game, which Gates has become since he broke into the league as an undrafted rookie in 2003 out of the Kent State basketball program.

Gates made the difficult transition from college athlete to pro player in another sport, but he‘s not getting by on just his remarkable athletic gifts. He wants to understand how his pass patterns open up running room for Tomlinson or draw double coverage to him and away from another receiver.

When Gates watched the Patriots’ win over the New York Jets in the Wild-Card round, he saw how frequently Jets tight end Chris Baker was open. Baker caught five passes for 68 yards, with a long of 26 yards.

But Gates has been around the NFL long enough that he doesn’t expect the Patriots to play him the same way they defended Baker.

“Every game is different,” Gates said. “I know Chris and watched him, and I saw he had a lot of free releases. I watched the Tennessee game (Dec. 31, the Patriots’ regular-season finale) and saw the tight end had a ton of releases. They basically disregarded him. But I watched a Kansas City game (in 2005) and they didn’t give Tony Gonzalez one free release."

“Obviously, I know they’re not going to give me free releases,” Gates said. “Tony and I have similarities, but we also have a lot that is different. Tony runs his routes different. I like to be in space more. I like to be standing up (like a wide receiver) and let a guy try to press me. I prepare for the worst, see what happens and roll with it.”

As a tight end, Gates says he feels a responsibility to open up running room as a blocker for Tomlinson as well as a receiver. One aspect of the Chargers’ offensive scheme he likes is when he’s put in the slot, but the Chargers still run the ball.

“It gives us an advantage, because obviously we can run the ball out of that same package,” he said. “Vincent Jackson is a tremendous blocker at wide receiver, and we’re able to block guys that are cornerbacks as opposed to trying to block a defensive end or a linebacker.”

Gates also says his catches this year -- he had 71 after 89 in 2005 and 81 in 2004 -- doesn’t reflect his effectiveness in the offense. Not when Tomlinson leads the NFL in rushing 1,815 yards and quarterback Philip Rivers spreads the ball around.

Tomlinson caught 56 passes, Eric Parker 48, Keenan McCardell 36 and second-year wide receiver Vincent Jackson averaged 16.3 yards a catch with 27 receptions and six touchdowns.

“Philip looks at the big picture, making this team a better team,” Gates said. “He’s the type that reads his progressions. If he sees an opening, he takes advantage of it. He doesn’t necessarily have a situation where he looks for one person because he understands -- as we all understand -- that we have a ton of guys that can make plays on this team.”

Those are some of the X’s and O’x swimming around in Gates’ mind this week.