NOTEBOOK 49ers' Herrion collapses after game

San Francisco offensive lineman Thomas Herrion collapsed in thelocker room and was rushed to a hospital Saturday night after the49ers' 26-21 preseason loss at Denver.

Shortly after the Niners entered the locker room, Herrioncollapsed. Emergency workers were performing CPR on the lineman as hewas being placed in an ambulance.

Coach Mike Nolan said he had no comments about the game.

"There are more important things on our mind than the game," hesaid.

Herrion played in college at Utah and spent part of last season onthe Dallas and San Francisco practice squads. He played in NFL Europeearlier this year and was listed as a third-string left guard for theNiners.

Players said he collapsed just after coaches finished addressingplayers after the game.

"All we could do is what we know how to do, and that was standback and let the medical staff do their job," defensive linemanMarques Douglas said.

The lineman was on the field for San Francisco's 14-play, 91-yarddrive that ended with a touchdown with two seconds left in the game.

GATES SUSPENDED: Antonio Gates didn't meet the San Diego Chargers'ultimatum to sign a contract by Saturday afternoon, meaning thedefending AFC West champions will be without their All-Pro tight endfor at least the season opener against Dallas.

In an extreme move to break an impasse in negotiations, theChargers ordered Gates to report to camp and sign a contract or facea three-game suspension. Gates' agent and the Chargers continued tonegotiate up to the 12:30 p.m. deadline but again failed to agree ona multiyear deal. Gates has refused to sign the $380,000, one-yearcontract the team tendered him as an exclusive-rights free agent.

Once Gates does sign a contract, he will be put on the roster-exempt list, automatically triggering the suspension, the team said.He will miss the team's final two exhibition games as well as theseason opener against the Dallas Cowboys on Sept. 11 at QualcommStadium. If he doesn't sign by Thursday, he'll also miss the Sept. 18game against the Broncos in Denver.

"He's someone we need on the team, but business is business," saidrunning back LaDainian Tomlinson.

AP