The Chargers didn’t have any major concerns about running back Melvin Gordon‘s health when he didn’t practice on Friday as he wasn’t given an injury designation for their game against the Titans.
The hamstring issue that cause him to skip their only practice in London got worse on Saturday, however, and the team announced he’d been downgraded to questionable. The trend continued on Sunday morning and Gordon was left out of the lineup.
Head coach Anthony Lynn said after the game that the hope is that sitting Gordon now will leave him able to return in Week Nine when the Chargers come off their bye to face the Seahawks.
“I felt like I had to protect him today,” Lynn said, via the Los Angeles Daily News. “I don’t want this to be a lingering thing. I want to get him back for Seattle. He’s got a bye week off. He can get healthy, and hopefully we’ll have a full-speed Melvin back in a couple weeks.”
The Chargers missed Gordon on Sunday. They had a hard time sustaining drives without their leading rusher and wound up running 44 offensive plays. That’s 23 fewer plays than the Titans managed, although the Chargers still managed a 20-19 win thanks to two long touchdown passes by Philip Rivers and a failed two-point conversion by Tennessee near the end of regulation.