NFL commissioner Roger Goodell has been meeting with Chargers president Dean Spanos and others. Goodell said the options include playing the game in Los Angeles, at Arizona State's Sun Devil Stadium — the Cardinals' former home — at Texas Stadium in Dallas or Reliant Stadium, the Texans' home field.
The precedent for playing at Reliant Stadium would be the New Orleans Saints playing a "home" game against the New York Giants at the Meadowlands after Hurricane Katrina. That move was later criticized.
Regardless, flying to Arizona is a drill familiar to 15 players on the active roster.
Four years ago to the week, the Chargers were forced to move a Monday night game against Miami — and Junior Seau's much — anticipated homecoming — to Tempe on short notice because of deadly wildfires. As it is now, Qualcomm was being used as an evacuation center and the air quality was awful.
"It's a little weird," running back LaDainian Tomlinson said. "It wasn't expected. Two times in my career. You're just thankful you haven't lost a house. This is the closest I've come to losing one, though. It was burning on my property line."
Tomlinson and his wife had to flee their suburban home early Monday.
"I could see the fires coming," said Tomlinson, the reigning NFL MVP. "You wake up at 4 o'clock in the morning. You get the phone call, 'You need to evacuate.' I see the sky was orange, so I'm like, 'It's serious.'
"You just adapt to it and deal with it. Everybody is. Look at all those people over there at the stadium."
Some 46 players, coaches and staff members had to evacuate, including coach Norv Turner and quarterback Philip Rivers.
Rivers said smoke was coming under the doors of his suburban home, and he and his wife and three young daughters got out before the evacuation orders came. He said his house was OK.
"It was scary," Rivers said. "A lot of us haven't experienced it. A lot of us were not here in 2003. It's such an unknown, too. You don't know what it's doing."
Rivers said the players are in a good frame of mind.
"All our families are safe. That's what's most important. Obviously we feel for the people that were more directly affected. There is going to be a game this week. We've got to put all the focus there. From what I gather, we've all been able to do that."
While the Chargers would love to be back in town Sunday, they know it's out of their control.
"Again, you can let it affect you really as much as you allow it to," Rivers said. "It's an unfortunate situation, but again, it can be more unfortunate. We're all safe, and for the most part, everybody's home is safe. We could be in the position like a lot of people are in the county, that are worse off."
The Chargers (3 — 3) are coming off their bye. After a stunning three — game losing streak, they righted many of their early season wrongs by routing the Broncos 41 — 3 in Denver and then beating the Oakland Raiders 28 — 14 at home behind Tomlinson's 198 yards rushing and four touchdowns.
Turner was Miami's offensive coordinator in 2003, when the Chargers had to move their Monday night game to Tempe. The Dolphins flew into San Diego on Sunday evening, then to Phoenix the next day. The Chargers, who weren't very good back then, were flat and lost to the Dolphins, 26 — 10.
"If we prepare properly, all the other things are irrelevant," Turner said. "Obviously, with the way we started, we don't have a lot of room to have a setback. So we have to focus in and we have to do a great job in the next three days."