Two key Bolts back on the field

Tuesday, Aug 19, 2008
By Casey Pearce, Chargers.com

Tuesday morning’s Chargers practice brought two items of good news for the Bolts as tight end Antonio Gates and defensive end Luis Castillo were both back on the field.

Gates, who opened training camp on the “Active-Physically Unable to Perform” list, passed his physical Tuesday and worked during individual drills.

“It’s another step forward,” Gates said.  “Hopefully I’ll work my way back in there.  I’m glad to be back practicing with my teammates and now you just hope things continue to go well.”

It doesn’t appear likely that Gates will play in either of the team’s remaining two preseason contests, but Castillo is hopeful that he’ll be back on the field Monday night when the Chargers host the Seattle Seahawks on ESPN. The fourth-year defensive end missed roughly a week and a half with a sore back but is feeling much better.

“If it were the regular season I’d be playing,” Castillo said.  “We’re being smart with it.  I started pushing it a little bit today.

“The moment you spend four or five months without being out there every day, you get rusty.  That’s the purpose of going for these five weeks is to go out there and get this rust off and get prepared what we need to do.  So obviously I want to get out there (Monday) and if I can then I will.” 

During Monday’s practice, Castillo put his pads on and participated in individual drills.  When the group went to team action, Castillo spent a little extra time working on the sled on the side.  Tuesday morning gave him a chance to get a little more involved.

“(Castillo) didn’t go through anything that was physically demanding but he was able to get through a practice this morning and it was good,” Turner said.

Gates’ morning consisted of running a few routes during the individual period and working with tight ends coach Clancy Barone.  Once the team moved to offense verses defense drills, he headed to the sideline.

 “He looked good,” Turner said.  “He’s making progress.”

 Carolina on my mind

The Chargers spent a good portion of their morning workout preparing for the Carolina Panthers, who they’ll face in their regular-season opener on Sept. 7.  As much as getting a head start on their first opponent, Turner is trying to mix things up a bit for his team after spending three weeks practicing against themselves.

“You say it’s on a team but what we’re trying to do today is get looks for each side of the ball that we don’t get for each other,” Turner said.  “There’s things that we do and we do against each other and there’s things other teams do that we may not use as much.  It’s a chance to give each side of the ball different looks, different blitzes, different coverages, different patterns.  Those type of things.”

Deferring opinions

During Saturday night’s preseason game at St. Louis, Turner took advantage of a new rule the NFL adopted this season.  The team that wins the coin toss now has the option to receive or defer to the second half.  The Bolts opted to defer.

“I think everyone in this league right now is trying to get a feel for it.  If you look at what’s happened in college football, and they’ve had the rule for a long time, it’s about 90 percent of the time they defer.”

The move initially worked out well for the Chargers as Antoine Cason ended St. Louis’ opening drive with an interception. 

Turner said several issues will factor into his decision as to how he’ll handle the coin toss each week.   

“I think you’re going to see a lot of people deferring because obviously if you’re at home and you’re good on defense, (you have) the crowd noise and you think you can get a three-and-out and get a short field, you’d like to play defense first.  A lot of times it is a psychological advantage to have the ball the first possession of the second half.  I think what you’re going to see is most teams deferring.”

Rookie treatment

Cason has had an impressive training camp and his play has quickly helped him earn the respect of his teammates.  However, that hasn’t kept him from getting a little rookie treatment.  His veteran teammates have had a few chores for him. 

“They just made me buy a lot of things,” Cason said.  “One of the things was body wash, a ton of body wash and it had to be a specific brand or else they wouldn’t use it.  It was for the DB’s.”

Cason has handled things well, which has earned him a lot of respect from his teammates. 

“It’s all in good fun,” Cason said.  “That’s what happens, I’m a rookie so I take it and have fun with it.”

 Special guest

Former San Diego State and St. Louis Rams star Marshall Faulk was at Chargers Park Tuesday.  Following the morning practice, Faulk sat down with LaDainian Tomlinson for a piece that will air on NFL Network on Wednesday. 

Hero for a day

At the conclusion of Tuesday afternoon’s spirited practice, Turner invited rookie kicker Billy Vinnedge to try a pressure-filled, 41-yard field goal with big stakes on the line.  If Vinnedge split the uprights, Turner promised to cancel evening meetings.  The former Wyoming Cowboy sailed it through and his teammates responded with a load cheers.  uproar.

“No meetings and no film, that means we’re done about two hours early,” defensive tackle Ryon Bingham said.  “We all love that guy right now.”

 Back to work

In addition to Castillo and Gates, another Chargers star returned Tuesday.  Cornerback Antonio Cromartie took some time off with a sore ankle and also had a cyst removed from his wrist on Friday but was on the field for both practices Tuesday.