Antonio Gates: That THUD is the sound of his Draft ranking + Update on QB Rivers
Antonio Gates’ surgically repaired big toe (the operation to repair his torn plantar plate was performed in late February) hasn’t come along as quickly as anybody would like. The latest news is that Gates is only 65-70% healed as of July 23rd, and he is just now beginning some simple running drills to test his foot.
In other words, Gates isn’t going to be ready for training camp practices, and his availability for the start of regular season is in serious doubt. As Gates tells it: “Obviously, it’s a process. I’m a lot better than I felt a month ago. I can say that. I have no determinant on when and how fast I’ll be coming back. But right now, I feel good. It’s a little sore, but it’s tolerable.”
At this point, Gates has plummeted down my draft board to #9 at his position to represent my best guess that Gates will miss most or all of September as he continues to work back into football shape. I simply do not believe that he will be ready for full speed football at the start of regular season, although the team may field him occassionally as a decoy while he gets back into condition. I’ve slashed approximately 25% off his projections for 2008, down to 60/750/6 receiving, as a result of my analysis of his injury woes.
The Chargers do have some good injury news on the eve of training camp - QB Philip Rivers has come back from his torn ACL in fine form and the knee is not an issue for him at all. “I’ve been going full-go now for over a month,” Rivers said in late July. “There’s nothing I can’t do. There are times throughout the day I can’t tell which knee I hurt.”
For Rivers, the glass is half full. He’s healthy, but his top receiver over the last 4 years, Gates, isn’t ready to roll. We’ll see who benefits from the passes that would have flowed to Gates - backup Scott Chandler has been working as the substitute pass-catching TE in practices during the spring while Gates nursed his foot.
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