JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – LaDainian Tomlinson has almost never been used (or not used) like this.

Tomlinson carried the ball just 16 times for 62 yards yesterday and now has 192 rushes for 795 yards this season, his second-lowest rush and yardage total through 10 games in his seven-year career.

His 70 carries over the past four games are the third-fewest he has ever had over a four-game stretch.

Only four times has Tomlinson carried 16 or fewer times in a victory.

Jaguars coach Jack Del Rio knows what so little of LT means.

“Obviously, the key coming in here and beating this football team was to be able to slow down LT,” Del Rio said. “He's a terrific football player. He's really tough to defend, tough to get slowed down. We were fortunate to be able to limit his opportunities. He ended up with 16 carries, which was good for us. A guy that talented, the more carries he gets the harder it gets to get him to slow down.”

Yesterday's game was the seventh this season in which Tomlinson has averaged fewer than 4 yards per carry, something that happened just four times in 2006.

That might appear justification for Chargers coach Norv Turner going away from Tomlinson. But the offensive linemen and others have been lobbying for more of a commitment to the run, because they feel as Del Rio does – that the more Tomlinson carries, the more of a rhythm he (and they) get into.

“I would like to get it a little bit more, just my personal opinion,” Tomlinson said yesterday. “But I'm not the coach, I'm just a player. That's all I can do is play, and whenever my number is called is try to make the best out of it.

“Whenever the play comes in I don't pout about it and say, 'Man, I should be getting the ball,' because you never know what's going to happen. If you think that way, then obviously you're going to go into that play with a negative mindset; you're not going to give it 110 percent. So I don't really think like that until after the game and I replay it in my mind and obviously, yeah, as a competitor you say, 'I want the ball more.' But we have a lot of guys on this team that can make plays, and I'm pretty sure they feel the same way.”

Turner wins a replay

A week after mystifying the public with two replay challenges that were clearly doomed, Turner made a good call on a bad call yesterday.

In the second quarter, Chris Chambers turned back to grab a 44-yard pass over Reggie Nelson before bobbling the ball and falling out of bounds at the 10-yard line. The play initially was called an incompletion by the official nearest the play, but Chambers came up arguing for a challenge.

“I caught it the first time and he got his hand in there,” Chambers said. “And I knew once I caught it the second time my feet were down, but I didn't know if I was out of bounds or not. But as a receiver I'm going to argue with the coaches and see if I can get that overturned.”

Referee Larry Nemmers explained afterward that Chambers had maintained possession before his elbow hit down inbounds.

“Luckily an elbow equals two feet, I guess,” Chambers said.

Less impact by Gates

Tight end Antonio Gates caught his first touchdown pass in three games, but his presence continued to be uncharacteristically stealth.

After catching 40 passes for 489 yards in the first five games, he has 14 receptions for 240 yards in the past five, including four for 54 yesterday.

“With the addition of Chambers (four games ago) . . . I wasn't expecting my numbers to be out of the roof,” Gates said. “We've got a guy who can really play. Together, we're a better team.”

Chambers also had four catches, for 93 yards.

The three-and-outs

The Chargers forced the Jaguars to go three-and-out on four second-half drives, more times than they had forced any team to do so this season.

They entered the game having forced just 14 three-and-outs in 99 drives (14.1 percent, third-lowest in the NFL).

Their stoutness was too late. The Jaguars converted five of their eight first-half third downs. And even when the Chargers stopped the Jaguars on third down in the first half, they couldn't get off the field. The Jaguars converted two fourth-and-1 plays on their way to their first touchdown. Opponents are 4-for-4 on fourth down over the past three games.

Nuts 'n' Bolts

Nate Kaeding made his ninth field goal of the season, from 23 yards in the second quarter. His 11 attempts are fewest in the league.

The Chargers have gone scoreless in five halves this season. Yesterday's first half was their second half this season in which they scored just a field goal.

Carlos Polk injured his shoulder making a tackle on a kickoff in the third quarter. He will have tests done today. That was the only injury the Chargers reported.

After having just one pass go for 20 or more yards in the previous two weeks, the Chargers had eight such plays yesterday.

Yesterday's game will be rebroadcast in a 90-minute format at 4 p.m. today on NFL Network.

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Kevin Acee: (619) 293-1857; kevin.acee@uniontrib.com