SAN DIEGO -- When the San Diego Chargers were operating at their best running the football last season, Ryan Mathews carried the ball an average of 27 times a contest during the team’s four-game winning streak that pushed it to the postseason.

Mathews has not played since a Sept. 14 contest against the Seattle Seahawks because of an MCL knee sprain. It’s probably unfair to expect Mathews to carry the ball that many times in his first game back. However, with Mathews expected to return to the field on Sunday against the Oakland Raiders, offensive coordinator Frank Reich and running back coach Ollie Wilson will be working closely with the team’s training staff to gauge how Mathews is handling his workload during the game.

Ultimately head coach Mike McCoy has final say. Chargers head trainer James Collins has been closely monitoring Mathews during practice, making sure there’s no setback in his rehabilitation process.

"We have to find out how much he’s ready to take," Reich said. "And that starts with us at the head coaching level. The trainers and Ollie and I have kind of talked about getting a feel for him during the game, and how much he can go, and that’s Ryan being honest with us.

"But he’s a bigtime player on this team. We want him to play as much as he can, but we want to be smart about it as well."

Reich said in watching Mathews during practice that he looks in good condition, and his legs look fresh and strong.

"The crispness in his cuts, you can see it," Reich said. "They’re real subtle at times, but you can see it. So there’s a lot of good signs. So we want to see that on Sunday."

For his part, Mathews says he’s ready to go.

"I really can’t say what my workload is going to be, because I don’t know," Mathews said. "I’m just doing the best I can to show them that I’m confident in myself, and I’m ready.

"I’m very anxious to play. It’s been a long time since I’ve played. It’s kind of like the first game all over again."

Mathews should provide a boost to a San Diego running game that is worst in the league in yards per rush (3.1) and No. 30 in yard per game (82).

However, Mathews is only part of the equation. Rookie Branden Oliver, Donald Brown and Ronnie Brown also will be called on to make more of an impact.

The Chargers usually ride the hot hand in the running game, giving the ball more frequently to the running back who is performing the best. But with Mathews returning from a significant injury, Reich said the coaching staff has to take certain precautions.

"We always have the hot-hand principle in play, but you also have to understand when a guy has been off as long as he’s been off," Reich said. "So I think that will be during the game, talking with Ollie and looking into Ryan’s eyes to see how he’s feeling. And obviously Mike (McCoy) will have a lot of say in that as well. So we’ll just have to feel that as we go. But I think going into the game the idea is to just keep mixing those guys in."