I haven't seen any news coverage today acknowledge that this was the story at 4 p.m. Eastern yesterday. Fantasy Football Diehards.com confirms my memory:
Tomlinson has been limited to just the first series, but CBS sideline reporter Steve Tasker is reporting LT didn't reinjure the knee he hurt last week. According to Tasker, Tomlinson is being held out due to a "coaching decision."
Sometime between then and now, it has been ruled that Tomlinson was hurt. About all the coverage the San Diego Union Tribune had on it was this column and the game story, which didn't shed much light on what happened.
This Newsday story breaks down the narrative a little more, but still no real answers:
Of all the injured Chargers, LaDainian Tomlinson was the one most likely to play. Philip Rivers, with stretched Silly Putty ligaments in his right knee that likely will require surgery, and Antonio Gates, with a dislocated toe, managed to perform in the biggest game of the year. But Tomlinson sat on the bench huddled in a parka, watching the AFC Championship Game through his trademark tinted visor.
"There were some remarkable efforts," Chargers coach Norv Turner said of his battered team, raving about Rivers' toughness but refusing to call out Tomlinson, who started and took the first two handoffs but did not appear after the team's second offensive series.
"LT tried to go, and he just couldn't go," Turner said. At one point, it was reported that he had "soreness" in his knee and "could return," and a sideline report called the former MVP's being on the sideline a coach's decision. But after the game, Turner defended Tomlinson by saying: "The guy was not able to go. The doctors and trainers said he couldn't go."
Tomlinson hyperextended his left knee early in last week's upset of the Colts, but after an MRI, he practiced Thursday and Friday and was not included in Friday's injury report. But when he caught a swing pass from Rivers for 1 yard on the second possession, he said he sensed he had lost his explosiveness and felt "helpless." Tomlinson also said he tweaked the knee on his 3-yard run to open the game and that he has a sprained MCL.
"From getting it reinjured the first play, I just knew I didn't have it," he said. "I'm kind of at a loss for words."
Not exactly the stuff of Kirk Gibson. I'm not a doctor, but Norv and LT's quotes seem a little bizarre. Did he even get any treatment to his injury?
I'm not satisfied with the answers presented here. I hope someone keeps picking at what's behind this.
--Nate Sandstrom
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