The Chargers’ season keeps coming back to the same ugly issue: the men up front are disappearing faster than the team can patch the holes.
Rashawn Slater is the latest blow. The Pro Bowl left tackle suffered a high right ankle sprain in the fourth quarter of Week 4, required surgery and was placed on injured reserve. It’s another brutal setback for a lineman who spent all of 2025 recovering from a torn patellar tendon, returned to the field, and now finds himself sidelined again early in a $114 million extension.
That loss hits a line that was already hanging by a thread.
Tyler Biadasz, the center brought in to steady the middle, was lost for the season before September even arrived. Kayode Awosika, who won the left guard job in camp, has been out since Week 2 with a fibula injury.
Trey Pipkins III, the next option behind him, is on IR with a bad knee. Trevor Penning is in the concussion protocol.
And Joe Alt, the other franchise tackle, is dealing with a neck injury that is expected to keep him out against Denver.
So that’s five linemen the Chargers counted on this season, and none of them are available right now.
The damage showed up clearly at the end of the Seattle game, when Los Angeles finished with Cole Strange and four rookies: Travis Burke, Jacob Spomer, Jake Slaughter, and Logan Taylor. Burke had been playing tight end, but with no one left to turn to, he was pushed into a full-time blocking role.
Justin Herbert has taken the hit for all of it. He’s been sacked 12 times in four games, and his interception total makes more sense when you watch how little time he’s being given to operate.
Help isn’t likely to arrive in one clean fix. The Chargers are going to have to piece together whatever they can find.
Rookie Alex Harkey is another possibility, and the team also brought veteran Daniel Brunskill onto the practice squad for emergency snaps. None of those names are headed to the Pro Bowl, but experience matters more than upside at this point.
The best-case scenario still circles back to Alt. Once his neck clears, Harbaugh has floated the idea of shifting him to left tackle and letting Burke work on the right side. That would at least give Herbert one stable edge and turn a full-blown emergency into something more manageable.
For now, the coaching staff has to work with a different kind of offense. McDaniel’s system leans on timing, motion, and play-action, but that’s a tough ask when the line can’t keep a pocket intact for three seconds. Expect quicker throws, more help from backs and tight ends in protection, and a heavier dose of the run game to help blunt the pass rush.
The one encouraging note is that the Chargers’ strongest offensive stretch of the season came in the second half at Seattle, with those rookies already on the field.
Still, the schedule won’t give them much breathing room. If Slater misses a month, he’ll miss Denver, Kansas City, and the Rams.
And for an 0-4 team, waiting around is not an option. The Chargers have to start finding answers with whoever is still upright.
In Other News...
Chargers Coaches Are Sending A Clear Message During This 0-4 Start
A rough start has the Chargers searching for answers, and the messaging from the coaching staff has been notably steady even as the losses pile up. Jim Harbaugh has continued to back the offensive line, pointing to the groups confident demeanor despite the injuries, while the broader tone around the building has been one of accountability rather than panic as the offense tries to find some traction.
Mike McDaniel has also acknowledged the frustration outside the facility, and its hard to miss how quickly fan patience is thinning after the teams 0-4 start. The results have been ugly enough to invite criticism from every direction, but the staff is still projecting a front-facing sense that the work has to continue, which leaves the Chargers in the uncomfortable spot of trying to reset urgency without changing the message too much. [Read more 🡒]
Chargers Offensive Coordinator Suddenly Under Fire As Herbert Keeps Sliding
The Chargers offense is already drawing scrutiny, and it is easy to see why. In his latest assessment for Bleacher Report, NFL analyst Kristopher Knox pointed to a unit that has yet to find a win and has lingered near the bottom of the league in both yards and scoring under first-year offensive coordinator Mike McDaniel. For a team that was supposed to lean on Justin Herbert to keep it competitive, the early results have been hard to ignore.
Herberts regression in McDaniels system has only sharpened the conversation around whether a change might eventually be needed. Knox went as far as identifying another member of the staff as a possible in-house answer if Jim Harbaugh decides to shake things up, which is the kind of speculation that tends to follow an offense when the production is this bleak. For now, the Chargers are left trying to stabilize an attack that has not matched the talent on the roster. [Read more 🡒]
Chargers Could Have A Justin Herbert Receiver Decision Brewing
The Chargers have been looking for ways to give Justin Herbert a little more help on the perimeter, and one name that has surfaced is Jerry Jeudy. NFL insider Adam Schefter reported that the Browns wideout could be available at the trade deadline, which has naturally put receiver-needy teams on alert as Cleveland leans on a group of younger pass catchers who have started to emerge.
Jeudys appeal is easy to understand for a Los Angeles offense that could use another proven option, but the fit comes with some questions. His production has dipped since a strong 2024 season, and any team weighing a move now has to decide whether his talent is enough to bet on the rest of this year and beyond. For the Chargers, its the kind of receiver decision that could shape the rest of their offensive push. [Read more 🡒]