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| Donald Miralle/Getty Images |
| Philip Rivers is trying to be patient this offseason as he recovers from knee surgery, but he is anxious to resume San Diego's quest for the Super Bowl. |
SAN DIEGO - Some might have bristled when Philip Rivers said he was a "fast healer" who would recover from knee surgery in time for training camp. Just more boasting from the Chargers' jocular quarterback, right?
Funny, turns out that Rivers sold himself short.
Rivers was back practicing with the first team in the Chargers' recent Offseason Coaching Sessions, just months removed from knee surgery. Rivers had surgery to repair a torn anterior cruciate ligament back on January 23 - three days after the Chargers' loss to New England in the AFC Championship Game.
"It seems to get better daily," Rivers said. "I feel it getting stronger in practice every day."
Philip Rivers, QB San Diego Chargers
2007 Statistics:
Completions: 277
Attempts: 460
Yards: 3,152
Touchdowns: 21
Interceptions: 15
The 26-year-old Rivers is one of four key Chargers recovering from injury. Running back LaDainian Tomlinson is ready to go. Center Nick Hardwick and tight end Antonio Gates are further away. The Chargers signed veteran center Jeremy Newberry as an insurance policy for Hardwick, who is recovering from offseason foot surgery. Tight end Antonio Gates is out of his walking boot, but hasn't started running yet.
That makes Rivers' fast return a blessing for the Chargers.
The only evidence Tuesday that Rivers is recovering from an injury is the brace he was sporting on his right knee at the Chargers training facility. Rivers wore a brace on both knees in college, but got away from it in the NFL. He'll continue to wear a brace this season.
Rivers said that he has passed the "danger zone," of his rehabilitation. The knee is strong and outside of a fluke incident, he only needs to strengthen the muscles around it.
Rivers admitted that he did get a little impatient with the injury at first. Antsy is a more accurate description. And who can blame him? The four-year starter at North Carolina State waited behind incumbent Drew Brees for two seasons before getting his chance to start for the Chargers in 2006. All he's done since then is pass for 6,540 yards and 43 TDs in the last two seasons.
So don't figure Rivers is going to let a knee injury get in his way. Rivers consulted with his doctors, trainers and even teammates - like Antonio Cromartie, who had the same injury in 2005.
"(They) helped me understand that you don't have to rush through rehab," Rivers said. "They told me that I had to be patient and go through the proper steps to get to where I am. You want to rush through and push yourself when you feel fine, but they were able to get me to slow down and be patient."
Chargers head coach Norv Turner has been cautious with Rivers so far in practice, keeping him away from situations where a lineman can roll into the leg, or some other disaster waiting to happen. Rivers is using the time to get comfortable with the offense. He admitted that having a coaching switch last season led to a slow start. Something that shouldn't be a problem this year.
"We are looking for him to pick up where he left off last year," Turner said. "At the end of the season, he was playing as good as any quarterback in the league."
Rivers' hot hand helped turn around the Chargers' fortunes. San Diego lost three of its first four games in '07 but won nine of its last 12, including six consecutive wins to end the season. Rivers threw 10 touchdown passes and only three interceptions in that six-game stretch as the Chargers won their second straight AFC West title.
The Chargers recorded their first playoff win in 13 years, knocking off Tennessee in the first round. Then the fortunes took a twist. Rivers injured his ACL a week later in San Diego's win over the defending Super Bowl champions in Indianapolis. He had a procedure to clear some loose cartilage, enabling him to face the Patriots in the AFC Championship Game. It was a gritty performance, but the Chargers could not convert touchdowns in the red zone, which resulted in a 21-12 loss.
The Chargers didn't expect any medals for a moral victory in New England, but the team did gather the experience to help push them into the coming season.
"We know what to expect now," Rivers said. "There is a level of comfort here that will hopefully let us get off to a better start. I feel like we accomplished a lot last year. We didn't achieve our ultimate goal of winning the Super Bowl, but we got a lot of experience. We now know what it takes. You can sit and imagine what it is like to go into a hostile stadium, or what it's like to play for the AFC championship, but you never know until you do it.
"If you go all the way to our 1-3 start, we gained a lot of experience there, too. We know not to panic. We know there are a lot of ups and downs to the season. All that experience that we got last year is priceless."
Now if they can just get everybody back on the field.
