Chargers rookie running back Ryan Mathews missed Tuesday's practice to undergo a procedure aimed at correcting nasal problems that have led to chronic nosebleeds.
The North County Times reported that Mathews, the team's top draft pick and the heir apparent to LaDainian Tomlinson, has been bothered by chronic nosebleeds since high school. They can spring up at any given moment when Mathews dishes out or takes a jarring hit in practice or games.
During Saturday's preseason game against Dallas, the newspaper said Mathews took a forceful hit near the goal line that knocked his helmet loose, pushing it up against his nose and triggering another episode of bleeding.
He missed a series while being tended to on the sideline and returned late in the first half.
"I've been getting them off and on for a while," Mathews told the NC Times. "It's not like the nose bleeds forever or anything, but it is an inconvenience."
Doctors cauterized an interior section of his nostril in a procedure Mathews described as uncomfortable and painful. But it should help to prevent a recurrence of the nose bleeding.
"It feels like I have a cold right now because I'm so stuffed up," he said, according to the NC Times. "It wasn't fun, but hopefully it works."
Mathews is expected to be ready to play in Friday's exhibition against the Super Bowl champion New Orleans Saints.
Chargers' RB Ryan Mathews Undergoes Procedure to Stop Chronic Nosebleeds
Aug 25, 2010 – 10:02 AM
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