"Antonio Gates has heard the talk.

The future Hall of Famer, hampered in his ongoing recovery from a severe foot injury, is presently "just a guy," this newspaper opined last week. Among other slights, Gates recently had relayed to him a Yahoo! column in which an anonymous Chargers source was quoted as saying Gates was "old and fat."

Recalling that assessment, a smiling Gates said: "It was like funny to me … When it gets personal to me, then maybe it's the truth. So I took the fact that I laughed about it as a good sign. Because when I know certain things that aren't true about certain things it is more of a joking matter."

Gates repeatedly avoided giving any estimate regarding at what percentage he is playing, though he acknowledged it is less than 100."