The first symptom was a sore throat, and Darius Philon thought little of it. He kept practicing, kept preparing for the first Monday Night Football game of his career. It’d take more to slow him down.
The second was hip stiffness. Still, Philon carried on, a full participant in every practice. Maybe a chiropractor could loosen it up, he thought. No. On Sunday morning, the Chargers rookie was added to the injury report, listed as questionable to face the Steelers.
A fever arrived that night.
Reality set in the next morning.
“I was laying in a pool of sweat,” Philon said.