San Diego Chargers: Who will miss tonight's game vs. Seahawks?

Before we get to the rumors, let's take a moment to criticize the San Diego Chargers.

I don't think I'm alone in being bothered by the fact that Philip Rivers sat against the Arizona Cardinals, and nobody knew about it. According to Mike McCoy, this sitting out was planned months in advance, and yet the media nor the fans were aware of it until kickoff.

For myself, I really don't mind. I was going to watch the game either way. However, for fans that had purchased tickets, some of them driving a pretty good distance for a chance to see their favorite player (Rivers).....what message did that send them? And what did the team gain from holding on to that information until kickoff? It seemed unnecessary and I'm sure a few people ended up wasting time and money as a result.

Okay, now we can move on to tonight.

The third preseason game is the most important preseason game for the starters, but not all of the starters will be suiting up and playing against the Seattle Seahawks tonight.

Orlando Franklin and Manti Te'o are expected the miss the game with mysterious nagging injuries, but nobody seems worried about those injuries carrying over into the regular season. Nobody is quite sure who will replace Franklin at LG (Trevor Robinson?), but there are rumblings that the team may test out rookie LB Denzel Perryman as the starter next to Donald Butler instead of Kavell Conner.

Philip Rivers and Melvin Gordon are both expected to play after missing last week's game. It appears that Jason Verrett will be on the field this week as well.

Eric Weddle is expected to not play in this game, although no reason is being given. It's probably a "rest game", similar to why Rivers sat out last week. Expect Jimmy Wilson to start in his place, and Jahleel Addae to get the start at SS. This could be the game that determines which of them eventually ends up as the team's starter next to Weddle.