Rare Day Off Leaves Seau in Restless State

Before the Chargers’ 34-14 victory over the Indianapolis Colts on Sunday, linebacker Junior Seau tried to run and tried to persuade both himself and the team’s medical staff that he could play.

“You know I definitely put up a fight to play,” Seau said. “I could have played and would have been at about 65%.”

Steve Hendrickson assumed Seau’s linebacking position in warmups while Seau walked back and forth in the end zone liked a caged bull.

“This is the absolute worst. I could jump offsides five times in a game and it’s not as bad as not playing,” he said.

Seau tried to persuade trainer Keoki Kamau he could take the field, but Kamau balked.

“He said he was going to leave it up to the head coach,” Seau said, “and Bobby Ross came up to me and said we’re going to have to rest you.

“I was going to try and go in for one series and see how it was. That was my plan. I was hoping the adrenalin would kick in and take care of the pain.’

The Chargers played on without Seau, “who is the best player on defense,” linebacker Gary Plummer said. “It shows you what a team game this is. We were without Marion Butts and Junior and the guys can be proud of how they played without those good players.”