"The first of Randy McMichael's two first-half receptions this past Thursday came after a run-in with a charging defender and release into the open. McMichael looked up and back just in time to catch the short pass from Philip Rivers and turn it into a nine-yard gain for a first down.

His second catch was even more blatantly like something we'd see from the man McMichael replaced - reaching out on a crossing route to tip and then pull in a bullet from Rivers. McMichael held on, even as he was leveled, for a first-down that immediately preceded Vincent Jackson's second touchdown of the game.

Randy McMichael isn't Antonio Gates in real life, he just plays him on Sundays.

Or Thursdays, or whenever called upon. It is a little more involvement than he expected when he signed with the Chargers in June, but it's exactly what he prepares for.

"When you've been around, played as many games as I've played, you know how to prepare," McMichael said recently. "… It's just being a football player. Football has so many situations that come up. It just comes down to preparation."

Back in November, when the uncertainty of Gates' availability was still a new and day-to-day question mark, McMichael would spend practices working primarily on his role as a blocking tight end."