The Chargers finally get their chance to break through on Monday night, but the spotlight in Week 10 comes with an unusual twist: they’ll be staring across the field at Jesse Minter.
Minter, now in his first season as head coach of the Ravens, spent the previous two years as the Chargers’ defensive coordinator. He was part of the team’s first season under Jim Harbaugh, and he’ll now be on the other sideline as Los Angeles tries to avoid becoming the league’s only winless team.
The game has lost plenty of the shine it once carried. Instead of a meeting between two AFC heavyweights, the Chargers enter at 0-8, while injuries have left the Ravens trying to hold things together. The 2026 season has gone sideways for both teams, just in different ways.
Before the primetime matchup, Minter looked back on his time in Los Angeles and the people he worked with there.
"I just have so much respect and love for the people in that building," Minter said of the Chargers.
"It was a very gratifying two years for me there with Jim [Harbaugh] and Joe Hortiz, the staff on both sides of the ball, all the players, the strength coaches, a lot of those guys I was with at the college level as well.
"That part of it is fun; it feels like you're going against somebody you care a lot about. I know how Jim feels about it, I'm sure. I'm excited about the challenge and I think after the game it's great to be able to catch up and say 'hey' to a bunch of those guys."
Minter’s impact in Los Angeles was real. Over his two seasons with the Chargers, his defense finished sixth in defensive EPA per play at -0.069 and tied for sixth in success rate at 42.1%. That unit helped drive much of the team’s success in 2024 and 2025.
Chris O’Leary has handled that role since Minter left, but the rest of the roster hasn’t held up the same way.
The Chargers enter the game as +4.5 road underdogs.
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Chargers Fans Have Every Reason To Question Joe Hortiz Today
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What followed only sharpened the scrutiny on Joe Hortiz. With the team still winless and in obvious need of a reset, the Chargers made no other significant moves at the deadline, a passivity that has fueled criticism of how the front office handled the day. For a fan base looking for signs of a real rebuild, the silence was almost as loud as the canceled trade. [Read more 🡒]
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With the move off the table, Denver will move ahead with its current linebacker group of Alex Singleton and Justin Strnad. For the Chargers, the collapse leaves one big question hanging over the situation, because a transaction that looked close enough to announce never made it across the finish line. [Read more 🡒]