SAN DIEGO -- LaDainian Tomlinson returned to practice Saturday, and it might be the only time in August he carries the football at Qualcomm Stadium.
Tomlinson worked a day after sitting out with a sore neck. He was hurt Thursday night when he collided with defensive end Igor Olshansky.
"Everything's good," Tomlinson said after the Chargers practiced in front of several thousand fans. "It's not real serious anyway. It doesn't hurt to go out and practice. People made it to be a big deal but it wasn't really a big deal at all."
Then again, with untested Philip Rivers taking over at quarterback, anything that happens to the Pro Bowl running back is going to raise eyebrows.
Tomlinson almost always sits out exhibition games, so odds are fans won't see him when the Chargers play host to Green Bay next Saturday and Seattle on Aug. 26.
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| Tomlinson participates in light drills. (AP) |
Fans saw two plays they might never see again at Qualcomm Stadium.
Rivers finished off the practice on a goal-line play by turning his back to the line of scrimmage and lobbing the ball over his head to All-Pro tight end Antonio Gates in the end zone.
"We'd probably only use that for two-point conversions," coach Marty Schottenheimer joked.
"It's kind of just a fun deal," Rivers said. "I don't know if it'll ever be seen, but it was something to do. Especially in that tempo. It wasn't real game-like."
At the very least, it proved that Gates, a former college basketball star, can catch anything.
"The problem was me judging how far to throw it over my head," Rivers said. "It's a little lighter than a basketball."
Earlier, Nate Kaeding kicked a 60-yard field goal. His career long is 53 yards at Atlanta as a rookie in 2004.
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