San Diego Chargers tight end Antonio Gates status is currently day-to-day for this week's game against the Washington Redskins. Gates sprained his right foot in the Chargers blowout victory versus the Buffalo Bills. This is the first injury that Gates has suffered in his NFL career.

"My foot feels a lot better," said Gates. "It's just day by day. I'm preparing to play this week."

Gates had an MRI on Monday, showing that there was no significant damage. This came as a big relief to Chargers head coach Marty Schottenheimer, who knows that Gates is a key weapon to the team's offense.

"You don't want to see any player sustain any kind of injury. In his case, he's a big part of what we're doing overall as a football team. But we have the good fortune of the football gods smiling on all of us," Schottenheimer said.

Gates was injured after Lawler Milloy landed on him after Angelo Crowell had taken him down. The Chargers were winning 35-10 at the time, so there was no need to risk him re-entering the game.