Chargers running back Melvin Gordon is in the midst of a holdout as he continues to seek a new contract.
Earlier in training camp, quarterback Philip Rivers stirred up a bit of controversy with his comments regarding Gordon when he said, “We love Melvin, but we’re going to go with what we’ve got.”
The comment had many believing that Rivers wasn’t supportive of his teammate and that they didn’t necessarily need him to win games. Following the joint practice with the Saints, the veteran quarterback clarified what he originally said.
“I know Melvin knows I’m pulling for him. And in saying that, that means you want what’s best for him. You want him to feel great. You want him to be at peace with how it all ends, and hopefully it’s right here,” Rivers said, per ESPN’s Eric D. Williams.
Even though Rivers believes that the team is better with Gordon on the field, he knows that Los Angeles must continue to prepare for the upcoming season without him.
“We gotta go. If he’s not here, we gotta go. That’s what I was saying three weeks ago. If he’s not, we gotta go. We do have good players here at that position.
Are we better with Melvin? Heck yeah, we are. And so hopefully we have him in addition to the other guys, and then it will be one of the saltiest running back groups around.
No player is in a panic. Right now we want to support him, we wish he was here but we also know it’s August [15] and everything is OK at this point.”
Gordon wants to return in time for the regular season, but he and Los Angeles have not made progress toward a new deal, per Adam Schefter.
Austin Ekeler and Justin Jackson remain as the running backs atop of the depth chart in his absence.
