The Chargers got more than a loss to the Arizona Cardinals on opening day. They also walked out of it with a fresh concern about Ladd McConkey, who left the 26-14 defeat in the third quarter and is now dealing with an injury that could affect his status against the Las Vegas Raiders and beyond.
McConkey still managed to lead Los Angeles with 82 receiving yards and a touchdown on five catches before exiting. That made the injury sting even more, because it came in the middle of what was supposed to be a big first step in a Mike McDaniel offense.
He enters the season as the Chargers’ top wideout, coming off a rookie year in which he posted 1,149 yards and seven touchdowns across 16 games. Then came a sophomore slump along with the rest of the offense last season, which made the idea of McConkey in this system one of the more interesting parts of the year.
The concern now is durability. McConkey is listed at 185 pounds and 6’0”, with team measurements always being generous, and he has already dealt with nagging injury issues as a pro. A wicked kidney hit that led to a variable rib injury only adds to the uncertainty around whether he can play this week.
The numbers from Week 1 only sharpen the point. As The Athletic’s Mike Sando reported, “The Chargers averaged 6.3 yards on the 26 plays with McConkey on the field but only 4.2 across the 25 plays without him. Herbert’s EPA per pass play plummeted from +0.22 to -0.33.”
That kind of drop explains why the Chargers can’t afford to lose him for long. Even with McConkey producing before the injury, Los Angeles still couldn’t get past Arizona, which leaves even more pressure on his availability moving forward.
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Los Angeles was already acknowledging the mistakes that helped swing the game, and the blunt critique only added weight to a disappointing start. For a team trying to set a tone in September, the bigger issue now is not what went wrong in one game, but how quickly the offense can clean it up before the opener becomes part of a larger problem. [Read more 🡒]