Those last 6 1/2 minutes on the field and the one-point loss of a game that was won until the last 11 seconds were painful and damaging enough. But even as the Chargers were at long last showing signs of improved defense, at least three of that unit's players came away wondering about their availability for next week.

Just moments into the second half, Castillo was lost with a groin strain, saying afterward that he's "hopeful" of being able to play against the Indianapolis Colts on Sunday night at Qualcomm Stadium.

"I'm all right," Castillo said. "I went down, felt a tweak as I fell. We'll just see how it does during the week. Just disappointed as hell not to be able to help the guys finish that game."

In making one of his 10 tackles, Cooper hyperextended his elbow, though he hurriedly returned to play yesterday after sitting out only a few plays. Early in the Steelers' final drive to the game-winning field goal, cornerback Quentin Jammer suffered a leg injury of unknown degree and left the game, one play after Cesaire was taken out with a knee contusion.

"I just got my foot planted in the ground and a helmet rammed into the knee," Cesaire said. "I like to think I got kind of a high pain threshold, but that hurt. But I'm not too worried about it. I should be ready."

Cesaire looked around the locker room. Health was the last thing on everybody's minds.

"Today, a lot of guys sold out," said Cesaire, meaning they gave their all. "Look at Stephen Cooper. The guy's hurt. You can see he's hurt. His body's all contorted and he comes right back into the game like that. Look down the row and you'll see all these guys hurting.

"What's going on right now (as far as the 4-6 record) is unfortunate, but this team's got a lot of heart. This ain't going to be the end of us."