Injury Update: Philip Rivers Has A Partially Torn ACL

Mouthy to a fault, quarterback Philip Rivers made a pronouncement Friday that pleased the San Diego Chargers, despite the coach's sentiments and a report to the contrary:

He's optimistic about playing in the AFC Championship Game.

Rivers returned to the practice field, encouraged his sprained right knee would heal enough for him to go Sunday against the New England Patriots.

However, that was Friday afternoon. Now sources told The San Diego Union-Tribune Rivers had also sustained a partially torn anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) in his right knee. Therefore, Chargers coach Norv Turner took a more cautious approach. He listed Rivers as doubtful and said it would be a game-time decision.

Under NFL rules for reporting injuries, someone listed as doubtful has a 25 percent chance of playing that week. Until Friday, teams were required to merely list whether a player practiced -- Rivers did not work out Wednesday or Thursday.

Rivers handled about one-third of the snaps in practice on Friday. He was hurt last weekend in a 28-24 playoff upset of the defending Super Bowl champion Indianapolis Colts, and backup Billy Volek led the winning touchdown drive.

Already a two-touchdown underdog against the perfect Patriots, the Chargers are awfully banged up. Antonio Gates was put in the doubtful category still with a dislocated toe.

On a positive note, running back LaDainian Tomlinson said he thought his hyperextended left knee would be OK for him to start. If Billy Volek has to start or see major playing time in Sunday's AFC Championship game, than LT is going to have to step up like never before. Remember the LT who set the all-time record for rushing TDs and ran for crazy numbers continuously game after game. Wherever he went this year, he's going to have to return and play just like that against the Patriots if they have any hope of winning.

I'll say this however. The Patriots have not covered the spread in a long time. Other than the games against the Dolphins and Steelers, the rest of the games involving the Patriots have been relatively within reach. Yet, they still continue to be favored by insane amounts of points. I guess that's because the Patriots can go on a tear at anytime and can score almost every time the ball is in Tom Brady's hands.

As for Bill Belichick and the Patriots. Same story. Patriots coach Bill Belichick said San Diego's injury problems were of little concern to him.

"We get ready for all 53 players every week," he said. "We don't have any control over that."

A classic Belichick response. Tom Brady, whose best games often come in the biggest settings, was typically more composed, joking about a future in Hollywood. In fact, everything is a joke to him.

For all his experience in pressurized settings, the Patriots quarterback suggested he had more trouble nowadays when it came to keeping his adrenaline in check. Brady was reminded that six years ago, right before playing in his first Super Bowl, he took a nap on the locker room floor. Brady wound up as the game's MVP in a win over the St. Louis Rams.

"I think I was naive back in the day," Brady said. "I thought it was easy."

Who are you trying to fool, Brady? Of course its easy when you have a line who protects you for so long you could steal Jessica Simpson from Tony Romo, have your way with her, and still be back in time to throw the ball to the best receiving core in football.

I guess when you have the type of season he had (make that the type of career he had) you can laugh and have a good time in the NFL.

Chargers QB Faces Uncertainty Against Undefeated Pats

San Diego quarterback Phil Rivers was listed as questionable for this weekend's game against the New England Patriots. He suffered a sprained right knee in this past weekend's playoff game against the Indianapolis Colts. "Right now, it's probably questionable in terms of playing in the game, but he's got a chance," coach Norv Turner said Monday. "That will be a day-to-day thing and we'll monitor it as the week goes on." In Sunday's game against the Colts, Rivers completed 14 of 19 passes for 264 yards and three touchdowns before being taken out of the game after landing awkwardly when completing a 56 yard screen pass to Darren Sproles. Billy Volek took over after Rivers left the game and led the Chargers to victory.

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The Chargers also had to rely on other backups on Sunday. They had running backs Michael Turner and Darren Sproles play after LaDainian Tomlinson was injured. Tomlinson said he should be able to play in this Sunday's AFC championship game, but the Chargers are nevertheless concerned about their crop of injuries. "I'm concerned," coach Turner said. "I mean, I'm real concerned. We're lucky, or we're fortunate, to have a Darren Sproles, have a Michael Turner, have a Brandon McKinney, but you can only withstand so many hits." Everyone should be concerned about San Diego's failing health. Everyone, that is, except Tom Brady.

San Diego Chargers Advance In The Playoffs

Thirteen long years after their last postseason victory, the Chargers finally came to life late in the second half Sunday to beat the Tennessee Titans 17-6 in an AFC wild-card game.

Overall, the Chargers had lost four straight postseason games dating to their ugly 49-26 loss to San Francisco in the Super Bowl following the 1994 season.

At first, this was a terrible game for San Diego. They entered the second half having scored zero points. Interceptions and fumbles plagued this team. LaDainian Tomlinson was shut down and I thought for sure this was the curse of Norv Turner.

But, thanks to Chris Chambers and Vincent Jackson finding open spots on the field and the lack of the Tennessee Titans being able to actually score, the Chargers came back to win 17-6. Rivers was 19-of-30 for 292 yards, with one interception. Chris Chambers had six catches for 121 yards, and Vincent Jackson had five for 114. I knew this game was over as soon as the Chargers scored their last touchdown on a bogus call. They were up by 11 at that point (the spread was for the Chargers to win by 10) and Vince Young is defiantly not the quarterback you want to fire the ball downfield during a 2-minute drill.

Why do I think LaDainian Tomlinson's second effort touchdown run was bogus? Because after he jumped into the air, he was stopped behind the goal line. If there was nobody beneath him, he would have hit the ground and the play would have been dead at that point. However, because there were so many bodies underneath him, it was impossible for him to hit the ground. So, when he landed on the first body, the official blew the whistle, making the play dead. BUT, no one acknowledged the whistle and this allowed Tomlinson to reach out for a second effort to cross the goal line. The play should have been ruled dead as soon as he was hit in mid air and dropped straight down onto the pile of bodies. After this touchdown, the Titans had no hope of coming back and all those calls against them which pinned them back to their own 1 yard line didn't help either.

Just like that, the nightmares of the Marty Schottenheimer era finally went away. The Chargers advance to face the Colts on Sunday in Indianapolis. That game also will be a rematch. San Diego escaped with a 23-21 win over the Colts on Nov. 11, when Peyton Manning threw a career-high six interceptions and Adam Vinatieri missed a 29-yard field goal attempt with 1:31 left.