Rivers takes backseat to Brees

SAN DIEGO -- Philip Rivers' introduction to life in the NFL was the same as for most newly rich rookies.

His veteran San Diego Chargers teammates took him along to dinner at a fancy steakhouse in La Jolla and, as is tradition, made the young multimillionaire quarterback pick up the check -- for a whopping $25,000.

The Chargers haven't needed Rivers since.

While Drew Brees continues to lead the surprising Chargers toward a rare postseason appearance, all Rivers can do is stand on the sideline and watch, waiting for next year, when he's expected to be the starter.

Heck, he hasn't even broken a sweat. Running back LaDainian Tomlinson and wide receiver Keenan McCardell have thrown more passes than the highly touted Rivers, who's thrown none.

"I certainly want to be out there," said Rivers, the fourth pick in April's draft after a standout career at North Carolina State. "Rightly so, Drew's playing great. He needs to be out there. He is the guy. But I have to be ready. You never know when you're going to get called on."

In a perfect world, Rivers would have reported to training camp on time, won the starting job and reduced Brees to trade bait.

These being the Chargers, though, dysfunction is normal.

Brees, San Diego's one-time "quarterback of the future," was all but abandoned by the front office after a 4-12 disaster last season.

Rivers joined the Chargers on draft day, obtained from the New York Giants along with a fistful of valuable picks, for No. 1 pick Eli Manning, who had told the Chargers a few days earlier he wanted nothing to do with them.

Then Rivers held out, missing the first 29 training camp practices and the first two exhibition games before agreeing to a $40 million contract that included a $14.25 million signing bonus.

Brees, determined to keep his job, had no competition in camp, was solid in the exhibition season and has been outstanding ever since.

Rivers eventually was promoted to No. 2 on the depth chart ahead of 42-year-old Doug Flutie, but has warmed up only twice on game day. The first time, he respectfully told coach Marty Schottenheimer he felt Brees should finish the gem he had started, a 42-14 rout of the Oakland Raiders in which he threw a career-high five touchdown passes.

He finally played the following week, mopping up with three straight handoffs and then taking a knee three times to finish a 43-17 win over New Orleans.

"There's nothing in the world I could do the other night that was going to change the outcome of that game," Rivers said.

"That didn't benefit me in any way as far as getting better," Rivers said. "But, the one thing it did, you get out on the field, you get a snap, you kind of get those first-time-again jitters. You want to be in the heat of the game and you've got to go in there. That part just took care of itself."

While Rivers sits, Ben Roethlisberger, the 11th pick in the draft, has gotten off to a phenomenal start by winning his first eight games with the Pittsburgh Steelers. Manning is finally in charge of the Giants after making his first start last Sunday.

Schottenheimer, wowed by Rivers while coaching at the Senior Bowl, isn't going to play the rookie unless Brees gets hurt or suddenly goes in the tank.

"We're going to put out those people that give us the best opportunity to win," said Schottenheimer, whose job has likely been saved by Brees' comeback season. "And that's the obligation that I have to every other coach, to the players, to the organization and to the fans. Training camp is training camp. Preseason is preseason. Regular season is win."

Brees becomes a free agent after this season. Even if the Chargers (7-3) made him their franchise player, they'd likely try to work out a trade rather than pay him $9 million next year, on top of Rivers' $3 million salary.

Had he been in camp on time, Rivers at least would have had a shot at playing this year.

"It would have been realistic, certainly, if I had been there the whole time," he said. "But you never know what would have happened. It wasn't like if I'd have been there I would have been the guy."

Rivers said he has a good relationship with Brees.

"Both of us understand that we were both put here and put in the situation where we both had no choice. It's not like I said, 'I want to go there and beat him out.' We both know we were both put here by chance, to a certain extent.

"We pull for each other, and obviously I do most of the pulling for him, since he's been in the game."