Just two short days after I bricked the call on the Monday Night Football fantasy preview, proclaiming that LaDainian Tomlinson would bounce back after last season's slightly-less-than-stellar numbers with a coming-out party, Tomlinson already looks seriously questionable for Sunday's home opener against the Ravens.According to the San Diego Union Tribune, Tomlinson rolled his ankle in the rivalry game against the Raiders on Monday, during which he became surreptitiously absent for the better part of the second half.
After sitting out the critical 2008 AFC Championship game with a knee sprain -- a game that teammate Philip Rivers played with torn ACL -- Tomlinson has inherited the reputation of being unable to play through pain. Couple this with the emergence of backup Darren Sproles, in terms of not only athletic ability but also popularity, and Tomlinson owners are nearly ready to run for the door.
The ankle injury appears to be just a moderate sprain, but the swelling caused Tomlinson to limp noticeably toward the end of the game and now San Diego fans are calling for a torch passing to Sproles. Realistically, the Chargers will take it easy on Tomlinson and let him nurse his injury, but should Sproles step up with big-time numbers, this could spell big trouble for LdT owners. Sproles shined more in his kick-return role on Monday night (23 yards rushing, 43 yards receiving) than he did in the backfield, but he demonstrated with an exclamation point the electricity he brings to the field.
The Chargers have already begun talking contingency plans should Tomlinson be unavailable to play on Sunday, with Michael Bennett expected to step in and carry some of the load. Bennett remains a non-event in fantasy terms.
The main point here is that Tomlinson owners need to start thinking carefully about how they want to proceed should he truly become a longer-term injury concern -- either with this sprain or something else. It always hurts to cut ties with your first-rounder, but it is probably time to put him on "orange alert" and perhaps even the trading block as this situation suddenly looks pretty scary.
Meanwhile, Sproles owners just hit paydirt.
