Chargers running back Melvin Gordon wanted to play this week despite knee and hip injuries. The team had other ideas.
The Chargers announced today that Gordon will not play in Sunday’s season finale against the Chiefs.
That’s a disappointment for Gordon in part because he ends his season with 997 rushing yards, and he was hoping to get to 1,000. As a rookie last year Gordon had a disappointing first year in the NFL, and reaching the 1,000-yard mark would be a nice way to put an exclamation point on a much better second season.
But with the Chargers long since out of the playoffs, it’s easy to see why they decided to shut him down. It makes more sense to get Gordon healthy for 2017, when they hope they’ll be playing meaningful games through the end of the season.