Antonio Gates has very sore foot and his plan of action is rest -- lots of it.
"This is the only solution I haven't tried yet," Gates said Wednesday. "I've done whatever it is you can imagine to help this problem. At this point, rest is the only thing that's left to try and get this thing healed."
Gates refused to rule himself out of any game, but it's nearly certain that he'll miss Sunday's game against Miami, and he could be out through the bye week in mid-October.
"I don't want to make any projections," Gates said. "It's tough to gauge. I mean, I wasn't supposed to have any problems at this point. It was supposed to be gone five months ago, but somehow it's still lingering. It's still an uphill battle. Whenever I feel great, or when the pain is tolerable, is when I'm going to get out there."
"We know Antonio extremely well, but we have to have part of the plan assuming he'll be ready to play and part of the plan that does not include him," Chargers coach Norv Turner said. "Until he's able to practice some, he's not going to be able to play at a level he wants. He really wants to practice and prepare and establish a routine he's used to, so that, when he does play, he's playing at a high level."
Gates owners should hold onto the talented TE as long as they can, as he's too talented to cut. It sounds like he will take at least 1-2 more weeks off and reassess the situation.
