We passed along an update this morning on the San Diego Chargers left tackle, Marcus McNeill, and outside linebacker, Larry English, possibly missing the Monday Night Football game with the Kansas City Chiefs due to injury. And we also noted that the Chiefs caught a break the first time these two teams met when TE Antonio Gates was ruled out with an injury.
It doesn't sound like we'll be catching a break this time around. John Gennaro of Bolts From The Blue tells us Gates will probably be around to play and we should expect him to be as effective as normal.
He said he felt pretty good after the Jets game. I'd expect him to be as effective as he was against the Jets, which is normal Gates effectiveness but for a lot less snaps than most starters. What I like about having Gates back is he seems to be the Chargers only real weapon in the red zone.
He had five catches for 54 yards and a touchdown against the Jets so that's a pretty normal day for Gates. With Philip Rivers not playing like Philip Rivers (more on that later), having Gates around will be a big boost for San Diego.
Gates' first missed game came in Week 3 against the Chiefs and he didn't return until last week's loss to the Jets.
The Chargers will be releasing their initial injury report on Thursday but Gates hasn't practiced and played before so that won't necessarily tell us a whole lot. Still, we expect to see him playing.