Philip Rivers: We love Melvin Gordon, but running back is a deep position for us

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Melvin Gordon, who is holding out of Chargers camp in search of a new contract, says a great running back can’t be replaced. Chargers quarterback Philip Rivers may not agree with that.

Although Rivers made a point of saying that Gordon is a good teammate, he also said that the second and third running backs on the roster, Austin Ekeler and Justin Jackson are capable of taking on a heavy workload if called upon to do so.

“They’re going to get a lot of work,” Rivers said, via the Los Angeles Times. “It certainly is a deep position for us, and those guys all love to play and work hard. We love Melvin, but we’re going to go with what we’ve got. It’s a pretty dang good group.”

Rivers is right: Ekeler has proven himself more than capable of performing well in the Chargers’ offense, and Jackson showed promise in a limited role as a rookie last year. It’s easy to envision Gordon holding out to start the season, and the Chargers’ other running backs showing that he can be replaced a lot more easily than he thinks.