Thursday, Aug 30, 2007 By Casey Pearce, Chargers.com As Chargers Head Coach Norv Turner sat at his desk Wednesday night reviewing film of his team’s first three preseason games, he watched his starting quarterback spread the ball around as he completed nearly 70 percent of his passes with no interceptions in 49 attempts. He also watched his All-Pro tight end haul in seven passes for 113 yards as he showed that he and his quarterback are communicating extremely well. Turner liked what he saw from two of his offensive leaders and decided that it would be best to keep Philip Rivers and Antonio Gates on the sideline tonight as his club closes the preseason against San Francisco. Turner would like to give some of his younger players more opportunities to see the field, including second-year signal caller Charlie Whitehurst, who did not play last Saturday at Arizona. Fourth-round draft pick Scott Chandler, who has had a solid summer, will also benefit from an increased workload Saturday night, as will Kelly Griffeth, a tight end who spent much of the 2006 season on the Chargers’ practice squad.
Great move. No need to get these guys hurt. Hopefully Williams won't play either. I'm excited to see a little more of Chandler in there. I realize he'll be utilized a lot as a blocker this season, but the guy does have great hands and mean skills for being that big.
No Rivers or gates tonight Good move. http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/news?slug=ap-chargers-rivers-gates&prov=ap&type=lgns SAN DIEGO (AP) -- Chargers coach Norv Turner decided Thursday that quarterback Philip Rivers and tight end Antonio Gates wouldn't play in that night's exhibition finale against the San Francisco 49ers. Turner "wants to see more of others," team spokesman Bill Johnson said in an e-mail to the media. As it is, reigning NFL MVP LaDainian Tomlinson has been held out of exhibition games to avoid a possible injury. Turner said earlier in the week that the starters would be in for about 10 plays before making way for backups.
No Rivers or gates tonight Bust out your Whitehurst and Camarillo jerseys!!! (pssst... college football starts tonight - we've got viewing options)
I just got a wild hair you know where. Never mind the TE stuff, they ought to bulk Griffeth up and groom him for RT, so they can move Olivea to guard. Bye, bye Lek. Effective tackle eligible plays. Wouldn't take him long to adjust and he already blocks well in space. PS-I'd feel better if I saw some real concerted defensive play from the starters for a bit. Maybe I'm nuts, but I don't like them going against Chicago without at least working together with some game time work.
Yeah, I didn't need to see ANY of Gates. Errrrr.....3 Probowls tells me he's pretty good. Jamal, Merriman, Rivers. NONE of those guys should play tonight! It should be 2nd and 3rd string fest tonight only. I agree, I want to see what Lego, Chandler, Whitehurst & David and some of the other Rookies can do. I know Weddle can play. I just hope this is like a scrimmage and nobody gets hurt.
At this same time last year, Marty elected to hold out about half of our starters for the 4th preseason game against San Francisco. This time the only real difference is the number of Charger fans paying full price for seats in a "final exhibition game"... It wasn't always like this - but I regress due to "old and grumpy" syndrome. On the positive side we will see a lot more play from the young'uns and know a bit more about them... and you can bet just about every NFL team will have a scout or two watching closely - particularly for guys like Clary. Look at AZ and their situation at Tackle after our last game. Think AJ's phone won't be busy with calls with "overtures" involving teams that don't want to wait for the waiver wire crap shoot come Saturday? If there is a loophole anywhere in the system, GM's and their minions will find it.
