FOXBOROUGH, Mass. (AP) -By Green Bay standards, the weather for the AFC championship game at New England will be downright balmy.

The forecast for Sunday's game between the San Diego Chargers and Patriots called for a temperature of 24 degrees, a wind chill of 13 and a slight chance of flurries. Kickoff is 3 p.m.

``I'm from Florida. I can handle the weather. They'll handle the weather,'' Patriots fullback Heath Evans said this week. ``I've said it before, sometimes we wish we could play the weather because

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. (AP) -Matchups for the AFC championship game between the San Diego Chargers and the New England Patriots on Sunday at Gillette Stadium:When the Chargers have the ball

A lot will depend on the health of QB Philip Rivers (17) and RB LaDainian Tomlinson (21). Both injured knees against Indianapolis and, while both say they expect to play, no one's sure what San Diego will get from them. TE Antonio Gates (85), with Tomlinson the Chargers' most important offensive weapon, will also be less than

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. (AP) -The San Diego Chargers like what they're hearing from Philip Rivers.

Forced to leave last weekend's upset win because of a sprained right knee, the mouthy quarterback is ``optimistic'' about playing Sunday in the AFC championship game against the New England Patriots.

Rivers returned to the practice field Friday for the first time this week and sounded ready to go.

``I think honestly, given the magnitude of the game and given the situation, if I'm out there as I plan to be for the

84 Benjamin Watson TE 6-3 255

88 Kyle Brady TE 6-6 280

90 Le Kevin Smith DT 6-1 308

93 Richard Seymour DT 6-6 310

94 Ty Warren DT 6-5 300

95 Rashad Moore DT 6-3 325

96 Adalius Thomas LB 6-2 270

97 Jarvis Green DE 6-3 285

---San Diego ChargersHead Coach: Norv Turner

No. Player Pos Ht Wt

5 Mike Scifres P 6-2 236

6 Charlie Whitehurst QB 6-4 227

7 Billy Volek QB 6-2 214

10 Nate Kaeding K 6-0 187

16 Dave Rayner K 6-2 210

17 Philip Rivers QB 6-5 228

20 Marlon McCree S 5-11 202<

A Champaign County grand jury indicted Johnson in December. Urbana is about 40 miles northwest of Columbus.

Johnson, who was part of four Big Ten championship teams while at Ohio State in the mid-1970s, played for the San Diego Chargers and Miami Dolphins in 1984 and retired at the end of that season.Copyright © 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. The information contained in the AP News report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without the

Here's one they'd like to show on Sunday: stopping long drives and getting the ball back into Tom Brady's hands faster.

After two of their weaker defensive games of the season, unbeaten New England is determined to improve against the San Diego Chargers in the AFC championship game.

In their 38-35 win in their regular-season finale, the Patriots defense allowed four touchdown passes by Eli Manning of the New York Giants. In last Saturday night's 31-20 playoff win, it controlled Jacksonville's str

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. (AP) - San Diego Chargers quarterback Philip Rivers returned to the practice field Friday and remained ``optimistic'' his sprained right knee would heal enough for him to play in the AFC championship game against the New England Patriots.

Chargers coach Norv Turner took a more cautious approach. He listed Rivers as doubtful and said it would be a gametime decision Sunday.

``We want him to be able to move well enough to protect himself,'' Turner said.

Rivers took about one-third of the s

``I'm not sensitive to it, because I'm secure in what I've done,'' he said. ``But baseball players are put on a different stage.''

Lowell noted that San Diego Chargers linebacker Shawne Merriman was suspended after testing positive for the steroid nandrolone, but was elected to the Pro Bowl anyway. Patriots safety Rodney Harrison reportedly admitted receiving human growth hormone and was suspended four games, but

SAN DIEGO (AP) -The San Diego Chargers are slowly getting back their injured players ahead of the AFC championship game Sunday against the undefeated New England Patriots.

Although quarterback Philip Rivers sat out for the second straight day with a sprained right knee, two-time NFL rushing champion LaDainian Tomlinson returned to practice Thursday after sitting out Wednesday to rest his hyperextended left knee.

``I think we're making progress,'' coach Norv Turner said. ``L.T. was able to practice and we h