Antonio Gates has said that he feels lucky to be a teammate of Philip Rivers at the San Diego Chargers.

The 32-year-old is among the top-ranked quarterbacks in the NFL this campaign, completing 4,478 passing yards and 32 touchdowns in the regular season.

The tight end told the team's official website: "When it comes to Philip, I feel lucky to have been a part of someone like him. When I look back at my career many, many years from now I will have felt lucky to have gone through this all with him.

"Philip means a lot to this team because he is the leader of this ball club. When you have a guy like that, you're talking about a guy who has the qualities to help you through the tough times. He makes it a lot easier for everyone around him.

"Not only is he the quarterback but he is our leader and he makes the game a lot easier for everyone around him. For me, that's the true test of what he means to our team. We drafted him believing he can carry us to wins, and he's done that."

The Chargers face the Denver Broncos in the divisional round of the playoffs tomorrow.