Despite breaking his clavicle in the San Diego Chargers' preseason opener, Ryan Mathews spent the last month telling us he'd be ready for Week 1.
On Friday, Mathews finally abandoned his optimistic personal timetable.
"I haven't been cleared for contact, and I think we're just going to wait this week," Mathews said, via U-T San Diego. "I'm just going to keep doing what I'm doing. ... I just have to have the mindset right.
"I probably won't be playing in this game. But the next game, that's what I'm looking for now," he went on. "I don't know about the team, but me personally, now I'm looking for that (Week 2) game against Tennessee."
Mathews participated in individual drills for the first time this week, but the final hurdle will be taking contact on the shoulder area that was injured Aug. 9.
"They just want to be on the cautious side," Mathews said. "It's been a lot of hard work, but you can't do anything about it. You really can't. You've just got to do what you can do, cheer on your teammates as much as you can. Like I said, my goal is to try to be ready by next week."
It's worth noting Mathews remains very much on schedule in his rehab. The Chargers put him on a four-to-six week recovery period after he underwent surgery to repair the clavicle. Mathews had put himself on a three-to-four week timetable, but let's score this one for science.
Follow Dan Hanzus on Twitter @danhanzus.
