Don’t read too much into the fact that a team that was a miserable 4-12 a season ago came to San Diego Saturday evening and scored a 20-14 victory in the locals’ NFL pre-season opener. That being said, fans of the San Diego Chargers saw what life could be like if QB Philip Rivers gets injured again. Most in attendance would agree it would not be pretty. While the game was blacked out locally due to not enough tickets being sold 72 hours prior to kickoff, the 58,373 in the crowd witnessed a rare sighting: star running back La Dainian Tomlinson seeing action in an exhibition game. Tomlinson got to carry the pigskin four times for 10 yards but, most important, stayed injury free in his first pre-season action in four years. The story of the night for San Diego (0-1) was turning the ball over when third-string QB Charlie Whitehurst (pictured) was at the helm. The Clemson product, who saw little action last season, accounted for a pair of interceptions and a fumble before rallying the team from a 20-7 deficit. As for Seattle (1-0), the Seahawks under new head coach Jim Mora got their first points from second-string QB Seneca Wallace, who tossed a nice ball in the corner of the end zone to John Owens to make it 7-7. Seattle took a 14-7 lead late in the third quarter as third-string QB Mike Teel found Mike Haas for an 18-yard connection. After Brandon Coutu made a pair of fourth-quarter field goals to extend the lead to 20-7, San Diego looked like it might turn things around when Whitehurst finally settled down and hit Legedu Naanee on a 5-yard TD with just under four minutes remaining in the game. San Diego managed to get the ball back one last time, but its drive to possibly to tie and/or win the game ended when Whitehurst (15-29, 193 yards) was unable to complete a fourth-down pass with under a minute remaining. As noted earlier, it was turnovers that did in San Diego, as three miscues led to 10 points for the Seahawks. On the bright side for San Diego, both Tomlinson and linebacker Shawne Merriman emerged healthy from the contest, while second-string QB Billy Volek hit on 8 of 12 passes for 122 yards. “We had a couple of chances at big plays with the first-team offense that we just missed,” San Diego Head Coach Norv Turner noted. “I like the way Billy (Volek) came out and played.” Since Rivers, Tomlinson, Darren Sproles, Antonio Gates and many of the other regulars saw limited touches in the game, there is certainly no reason to read much into a loss to a team that only won 25 percent of its games a season ago. Looking at the first 30 minutes of play, Turner added, “I liked the way our first defensive group played. I think they got off to a nice start. They really showed the speed that we have and what we’ve gotten done in the secondary.” Getting off to a nice start in the pre-season is not nearly as important as staying healthy through what amount to four exhibition games. Being healthy come Sept. 14 for the regular-season opener at Oakland will be what Charger fans are truly hoping for. San Diego travels to Arizona for its next contest on Saturday, Aug. 22.