Chargers tight end Antonio Gates is heading into his 13th NFL season and he knows that the finish line is approaching quickly.
That’s why he’s started to take more interest in off-field business pursuits, like boxing promotion, and in on-field preservation. Gates says that he wound up playing more snaps than planned last season and that he’d like to dial things down next season as a result.
“With injuries and whatnot, I played a little bit more than they expected me to play last season,” Gates said, via Emily Kaplan of MMQB.com. “I was playing the whole game. How I feel next year, it depends on how much volume they have me doing. I’d like to come in on third-and-7s, red zones, those situations. That’s what my contribution is at anyway.”
Ladarius Green is a frequent subject of preseason talk about stepping into a bigger role on the San Diego offense, but it hasn’t translated into a big jump in production or playing time to this point. Perhaps the combination of Gates’s desires and the fact that the veteran, who won’t commit to playing beyond this year, isn’t signed beyond the 2015 season will be the thing that finally makes it happen.
