LaDainian Tomlinson Is Playing for His Job

As the Chargers prepare for their playoff game with the Colts, the injury reports continue to show that running back LaDainian Tomlinson is not practicing because of an injured groin. With Darren Sproles coming up for free agency and playing very well, the question is what the Chargers will do this time around.

The Chargers traded away Michael Turner and then watched him lead the Falcons to an 11-5 record in a much tougher and deeper division. Tomlinson has suffered through an injury-plagued campaign that has some questioning if the Chargers made the right call. Hindsight is always 20/20 in cases like these, though.

That said, this is hardly the first time I've started to question Tomlinson, his toughness, and his heart.

Let's start in the 2007 playoffs.

The Patriots defeated the Chargers out in San Diego. Following the game, several Patriots performed Shawn Merriman's sack dance. Smart? No. Tomlinson, though, showed more toughness in going after the Patriots players than he did over most of the game. His postgame comments reflected that he felt that it was a tremendous sign of disrespect.

To recap that, Tomlinson felt that the dance Merriman does to taunt quarterbacks and the opposition after he made a sack shouldn't be done by an opponent after beating his team. The running back did everything he could to win, putting up over 120 yards on the ground and 60 more through the air. Yet, he decides to whine in his comments.

This was his breakout campaign, though. In 2006, he put up touchdowns every way imaginable and was the league MVP. Well deserved on all counts. I'm not taking that away.

Where I'm going to take more issue begins with the playoff games against the Colts and Patriots following the 2007 season. He was hurt, suffering a knee injury later diagnosed as a sprained MCL. While other key Chargers were hurt, Tomlinson was the only one to sit out the AFC Championship game against New England.

Philip Rivers missed the divisional round against the Colts, as Billy Volek led them to victory. Rivers then had surgery on a torn ACL and managed to get himself into the game in Foxboro. It didn't come out until after the season that the injury was so severe. No one has questioned his toughness since.

Antonio Gates played the entire playoffs on a dislocated toe.

Tomlinson, though, missed the Colts contest with the knee injury and then carried just twice against the Patriots before watching the rest of the game from the sidelines. Maybe he really couldn't get himself through the game, but he represented a threat every time he was on the field. He didn't even give the Chargers that decoy.

Still, there was no reason to believe that Tomlinson wasn't the top running back in the NFL. San Diego let Michael Turner go, trusting Tomlinson would be back to form for the 2008 season.

That hasn't exactly gone to plan. He spent the early part of the season nursing a toe injury, and didn't look like the Tomlinson of old until the final week or two of the season. All in, he cracked 100 yards rushing in a game just twice. Compare that to 2007, when he hit that number six times and did so ten times in 2006.

It's not as if rest has helped, either. His three best rushing days came prior to the bye week. Of his best five rushing games, two were against Oakland, another against Denver.

Yes, Tomlinson has looked better in the last two games. Still, he managed just 74 total yards against Kansas City in Week 15. Discounting one 45-yard run against Denver, he put up 41 yards on 13 carries in Week 17.

Norv Turner did look to limit Tomlinson as the game got more out of hand, and I assumed that was the real reason we saw Tomlinson on the sidelines as the clock wound down. Fact is, given the score, it made sense to me.

Postgame, though, Tomlinson commented that he wasn't sure on the severity of the injury he suffered. He made no comment regarding his availability for the playoff game. He wouldn't say that he would play, wouldn't say that he would get himself ready to go. The only comment was that he would take it easy.

There are those that feel he went too hard in practice last year leading up to the AFC Championship game, and he's being more cautious this year. I'm just not convinced that's the reason.

He's complained all season when his numbers haven't been stellar, and his comments this week lead me to believe he's setting everything up for when he isn't effective against the Colts.

This comes as the Chargers look to make another running back decision this offseason. Darren Sproles has been a game-changer in the last several weeks and his success has driven up the asking price. There are questions surrounding Tomlinson's durability, in my mind, and his status as the best running back in the game is being hotly debated.

San Diego can't afford to lose Sproles in the way they lost Turner, and Tomlinson's numbers have come down since the breakout 2006 season. What I suggest might be a tough proposition, and many Chargers fans might lose it. It could, though, be time to trade Tomlinson.