SAN DIEGO -- Ryan Mathews has totaled 175 rushing yards in two games since returning from an MCL knee sprain that forced him to miss seven games.

But through two games, Mathews has carried the football an average of 14 times a contest, with just four of those carries coming in the fourth quarter and two in the red zone.

So what gives?

San Diego Chargers head coach Mike McCoy explained his team's approach to Mathews.

"We are monitoring that to a certain extent," McCoy said, when asked if Mathews' workload will increase in the weeks ahead. "But he'll kind of help us dictate that also. The longer he can go will come into effect, with this being the second week back. More last week we told them to monitor that. We didn't want him to play too much or too little. And the same this week, he's going to kind of dictate some things there."

McCoy went on to say the coaching staff is going to do what they think is best, and that means using Branden Oliver and Donald Brown for specific plays that feature them. Mathews and his injury history also plays a role in McCoy wanting to limit how many carries Mathews can get so he can make it through the regular season and beyond healthy.

Mathews suffered a shoulder injury in the second half, but later returned to the game. He was further evaluated in the locker room after the game, and it appears the injury is not serious. However, McCoy did not provide an update on Mathews' injury status on Monday.