SAN DIEGO (13-5) AT NEW ENGLAND (17-0)
WHEN: Sunday, 1 p.m. MST
WHERE: Gillette Stadium, Foxborough, Mass.
TV: CBS
Philip Rivers is resolute and defiant. Those two characteristics have made him seem a tad possessed in recent weeks — particularly in his rapport with Colts fans last Sunday at the RCA Dome — but are often to his credit, and in a different manifestation helped him become the No. 4 overall pick in the draft after a fairly phenomenal matriculation at North Carolina State.
But with the San Diego Union-Tribune reporting that he suffered a partial tear of his right anterior cruciate ligament, one wonders if his defiance might get the better of him.
What is more significant than Rivers’ official “doubtful” status is the fact that he was limited in practice. It’s tough enough to go against the Patriots with a full week of preparatory work. Can one really expect to be ready when that work is truncated?
San Diego’s best bet might be to go with Billy Volek, who led them to the game-winning score in the fourth quarter last week and played with a crispness that kept the Chargers’ offense at its typically productive pace in spite of the absences of LaDainian Tomlinson and Antonio Gates.
