Antonio Gates spent some time on Monday doing laughable damage control following his revelation that teammate Philip Rivers is playing through a rib injury.
The San Diego Chargers beat the Oakland Raiders 13-6 on Sunday to snap a three-game losing streak, but it was the fourth straight game the team’s offense did not look very good. That is likely because Rivers is dealing with a “severe” rib injury, according to Gates.
Following Sunday’s win, Gates was asked about Rivers’ toughness in light of the quarterback remaining in the game despite getting crushed by a Khalil Mack sack in the fourth quarter. It was then that Gates praised Rivers’ toughness and revealed the QB’s injury.
“Not for once did I think he was going to go out of the game. I watched the guy play with a torn ACL. He takes some shots. He’s taken some shots all year. For those who don’t know, he’s been dealing with a rib injury, a very severe rib injury, so he’s been toughing it out these last three or four weeks,” Gates said.
Rivers downplayed the injury when speaking with UT San Diego. So did head coach Mike McCoy, who apparently was so upset with Gates for letting valuable information become public, he had the All-Pro tight end attempt to issue a clarification.
“I think some things I had said were taken out of context,” Gates said Monday via UT San Diego. “I was just talking in terms of playing the game, just the typical soreness you have from playing in this league. I’ve been playing in this league a long time. I understand the process, the battles of what you have to put into a game, taking care of yourself physically.”
Though Gates made his best effort to backpedal on his revelation, UT San Diego makes it seem like it was pretty well understood that Gates was only trying to “clarify” his comments due to pressure from his coach.
The Chargers may not be happy about Gates’ slip-up, but it certainly explains a lot about the team’s problems. Rivers passed for at least 250 yards and threw for 14 touchdowns and just one interception during a five-game winning streak from Week 2-6. Since then he’s thrown for 205 or fewer yards in three of the last four games, with six touchdowns and seven interceptions. An injury is the only thing that can explain Rivers’ turnaround from MVP candidate to dud.
