St. Louis suffers its first loss of preseason

San Diego posted a 36-21 victory on Sunday.

SAN DIEGO -- The San Diego Chargers proved they can thrive without All-Pro tight end Antonio Gates -- at least for one exhibition game.

LaDainian Tomlinson scored on a 55-yard run -- his only carry of the game -- and his backup, Michael Turner, also had a 55-yard run, plus a 2-yard TD scamper, as the Chargers beat the St. Louis Rams 36-21 on Sunday.

Chargers general manager A.J. Smith said at halftime that Gates was expected to arrive in San Diego on Sunday night and sign a $380,000 tender to end his holdout. Because Gates missed a team-imposed deadline to report, the Chargers said on Saturday that they will put him on the Roster Exempt List once he signs, meaning he would have to sit out the last two exhibitions and the season opener against Dallas on Sept. 11.

However, Smith appeared blindsided by reports that commissioner Paul Tagliabue could intercede and have the roster exemption lifted.

"Now, we're not aware of any of that, but we'd like to explore that," Smith said.

Gates caught 13 touchdown passes last year to set an NFL record for tight ends, leading the Chargers to the AFC West title and their first playoff appearance in nine seasons. He led the Chargers with 81 catches for 964 yards, accounting for about 20 percent of the offense.

But negotiations on a multiyear deal have fallen apart, leading to his uncertain status. The Chargers set Saturday's deadline in an effort to break the impasse.

Tomlinson capped San Diego's first drive when he sprinted through a huge hole, ran toward the right sideline and blew past safety Adam Archuleta for the score. Tomlinson then took a spot on the sideline, his day's work over after being in for just five plays. He also caught two passes from Drew Brees, for eight yards.

With the Chargers (1-1) leading 10-0, Turner started the Chargers' third possession with a 55-yard run, then capped it with a 2-yard run to give San Diego a 17-0 lead.

Kicking on a dry field for a change, San Diego's Nate Kaeding had field goals of 35 and 40 yards to snap an 0-for-4 streak.

Kaeding missed three field goal attempts in the final eight minutes of a 10-7 loss at Green Bay in the exhibition opener, which was played in a steady drizzle. Seven months earlier, he was wide right from 40 yards in overtime of San Diego's playoff loss to the Jets, also on a wet field.

Kaeding's 40-yard kick on Sunday was from the same hash mark and same end of the field where he had his playoff clunker.

Marc Bulger threw two touchdown passes for the Rams (1-1). His 41-yarder to Torry Holt with 2:12 left before halftime burned Chargers cornerback Quentin Jammer and pulled the Rams to 17-14. He also threw a 13-yard TD pass to Kevin Curtis.

Curtis had a 78-yard scoring reception from rookie Ryan Fitzpatrick with 1:35 left.

San Diego's top draft pick, outside linebacker Shawne Merriman, made his debut and had three tackles.

Chargers cornerback Drayton Florence returned an interception 44 yards for a touchdown after safety Clinton Hart hit Marshall Faulk as Bulger's pass arrived, popping the ball into the air.