OAKLAND, Calif. -- San Diego Chargers center Nick Hardwick injured his left foot in Monday night's 24-20 victory over the Oakland Raiders and left the Coliseum on crutches and wearing a walking boot.
"I'm fine," Hardwick said afterward, noting he wanted to wait for an official injury report to provide more detail. "I'm emotionally stable."
Star running back LaDainian Tomlinson rolled his ankle, but it wasn't considered serious.
Hardwick was carted off the field midway through the third quarter. He went down blocking on a pass play and was examined for several minutes before leaving.
San Diego also lost right guard Louis Vasquez earlier in the third quarter with a knee injury. He was taken to the locker room.
That left the Chargers with no extra offensive linemen because they only dressed seven.
"I don't know if I've ever been in a game where more guys had to leave the game," coach Norv Turner said. "We took a calculated risk and only had seven linemen up. Things got tight there."
If someone else had gone down, Turner would have turned to fullback-tight end Brandon Manumaleuna to play tackle.
"I don't know what we would have done. We might have had to dress a coach," right tackle Jeromey Clary said.
Turner said he would know more about the injuries Tuesday, but wasn't overly concerned. San Diego has a quick turnaround to face Baltimore at home on Sunday.
"I think we're going to be better than it looks out there," Turner said. "We've got depth on our football team in a number of areas and we've got some guys who are anxious to get opportunities to play. They'll respond."
Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press
