LONDON – Hours before kickoff, Melvin Gordon jogged across the Wembley Stadium turf, before pulling up, frustrated. His routine was cut short. He wouldn’t see the field after that.

Two days earlier, the Chargers running back had left the team’s only practice in London with a limp. At the time, the team seemed to think nothing of it. They wondered if he’d been dehydrated from the international flight. But then, on Saturday night, Gordon was added late to the injury report and deemed questionable.

By Sunday morning, his status was suddenly in doubt. And by the end of pregame warm-ups, the league’s third-leading rusher, who trails only Todd Gurley in total touchdowns, was ruled out for Sunday’s eventual 20-19 victory over the Titans.

From the beginning, Gordon’s absence was felt. His between-the-tackles role was delegated to all-purpose back Austin Ekeler, who struggled to find much room up the middle, ultimately rushing for just 42 yards on 11 carries.

“Any time you don’t have your horse in there, it’s not going to be the same,” Chargers coach Anthony Lynn said.

Without him, the Chargers struggled to string together long drives. They had just two lasting more than six plays and trailed the Titans by more than 10 minutes in time of possession. Eventually, they abandoned the run game altogether, as Ekeler received just four carries after the half.

“I felt like I had to protect him today,” Lynn said of the decision to sit Gordon. “I don’t want this to be a lingering thing. I want to get him back for Seattle (on Nov. 4). He’s got a bye week off. He can get healthy, and hopefully we’ll have a full-speed Melvin back in a couple weeks.”

‘JUST BROTHERS FIGHTING’

As Rivers searched for an open receiver in the red zone, midway through Sunday’s fourth quarter, Keenan Allen broke free in the corner of the end zone. But Rivers didn’t see him.

Instead, he threw a bullet to Mike Williams. The pass fell incomplete, and Allen had a bit of a meltdown.

In a rage, Allen kicked one of the end zone pylons, before taking his anger to the sideline, where he had to be restrained by teammates as he screamed at Chargers quarterback Philip Rivers. Afterwards, Allen characterized the spat with his quarterback as “just brothers fighting”.

“I want the ball,” Allen said. “He wants me to get the ball, so he’s telling me why I didn’t get it and I’m mad. It’s just things you got to go through. We talked about it.”

Rivers joined his top wideout in brushing off the fourth-quarter altercation.

“There’s no problem there,” Rivers said. “It’s an emotional game, and that won’t be the last argument that any of us have on the sideline. I wasn’t worried about it after two seconds. But I know we’ll be hearing a lot about it here on this plane. They’ll be giving us a hard time for sure, and that’s OK.”

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Chargers plan to stick with QB Tyrod Taylor if healthy over rookie Justin Herbert While their argument was quickly resolved, Allen’s role has decreased somewhat this season, as Ekeler and Gordon have carved out larger roles in the passing game. Through six games, Allen has just one touchdown, fewer than either running back and both of the team’s other starting wideouts.

BARKSDALE, BENJAMIN RETURN (BRIEFLY)

Offensive tackle Joe Barksdale returned on Sunday after missing all but one game this season with a knee injury. Barksdale started in his usual spot on the right side, but was replaced early on by reserve tackle Sam Tevi, who filled in during his absence.

Barksdale refused comment after the game.

Slot wideout Travis Benjamin also returned on Sunday, with similarly muted results. After missing four games with a foot injury, Benjamin had one catch for 13 yards against the Titans.