Los Angeles Chargers running back Melvin Gordon is reportedly not expected to play in Thursday night's game against the Kansas City Chiefs. Gordon has not played since suffering an MCL sprain in the team's Week 12 win over the Arizona Cardinals, and it sounds like he'll remain out for yet another week.

While Gordon was considered questionable heading into the contest, he has already commented on his playing tonight for this crucial game, according to Omar Ruiz of NFL Network.

Just spoke to Melvin Gordon, he said he was feeling alright but when I asked him if he was gonna give a shot tonight, he shook his head sideways, indicating a no…

And here's the follow-up tweet from Ruiz, who gave more details on the Gordon situation.

After a conversation with Anthony Lynn, he said it’ll be smart to hold him out tonight. Had to make a hard decision, but allowed Gordon to make a case. Their hope being that the #Chargers have plenty more big games ahead that they’ll need their star back for

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This obviously isn't an ideal development for the Chargers, but it's not as though this was unexpected. It appeared likely that Gordon would be a longshot for the game, even if it's one that is extremely important in the race for home-field advantage in the AFC.

The Chiefs won the first meeting of the season between the two teams in Week 1, and now the Chargers will be looking for some revenge in primetime at Arrowhead Stadium.

But they'll have to do it without Gordon and most likely Austin Ekeler (concussion), so that means Philip Rivers will have to lean on rookie Justin Jackson once again in the Chargers' rushing attack.

However, getting Gordon back healthy is certainly a huge priority for Anthony Lynn and company moving forward if they want to be a serious Super Bowl contender.