The Los Angeles Chargers had more than a rough preseason loss on their hands Thursday night. They also gave up one of the night’s most glaring special-teams breakdowns, and Jim Harbaugh wasn’t interested in softening it.
Late in the second quarter of San Francisco’s 41-17 win at SoFi Stadium, 49ers receiver Jacob Cowing took a J.K. Scott punt at his own 17-yard line, bounced left and found daylight all the way to the end zone. The only Charger with a shot at stopping him was Scott himself - and the punter never made the play.
Harbaugh’s message afterward was blunt when asked whether Scott had been told to avoid contact.
“No, he’s got to have a plan when he’s in that position to make a tackle. Something we need to work on, coach up,” Harbaugh said, via Kris Rhim on X.
That answer said plenty. Harbaugh didn’t point at the return team.
He didn’t lean on the block in front of Scott. He put the spotlight squarely on the punter needing a better response in that exact moment.
According to NFL.com, Scott shuffled to his right as Cowing came at him, opening a lane for the final 50 yards of the 83-yard return. Yahoo Sports noted that Scott appeared to be knocked off his path by a block in the back that wasn’t called, while San Francisco was separately flagged for an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty on tackle Trent Williams, who came off the bench to celebrate the touchdown.
That’s the wrinkle in the play: maybe the coverage broke down around Scott, too. But Harbaugh’s view was clear enough. In his eyes, this was about preparation and execution, not excuses.
The return put San Francisco ahead 17-3 and helped turn the night into a mess the Chargers never controlled. Yahoo Sports reported that Los Angeles finished with eight punts, seven penalties and only eight first downs. Harbaugh summed up the performance this way: “We got outplayed and we beat ourselves in all three phases,” Harbaugh said after the loss.
And the punt return wasn’t even the only issue hanging over the Chargers. Starting center Tyler Biadasz is dealing with what Harbaugh has since called a discouraging ACL injury suffered in joint practice earlier in the week, a much bigger concern for the offense.
Justin Herbert played just one series, going 1 of 2 for 9 yards before Trey Lance and then D.J. Uiagalelei took over.
Still, the Scott play is the one that will get replayed. It was the kind of snap that coaches circle immediately, and Harbaugh made it sound like the staff will do exactly that. The Chargers have one more preseason game before final roster cuts, and Scott’s response - along with the rest of the coverage unit - will be part of the evaluation.
One bad play won’t define Scott’s preseason. Yahoo Sports reported that Pro Football Focus ranked him fourth among punters for hang time, directional placement and situational execution.
But Harbaugh’s comments made it obvious the standard is higher than one decent overall body of work. When the punter becomes the last line of defense, the answer has to be better than that.
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Chargers O-Line Plans Just Took A Brutal Hit Before Week 1
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Harbaugh called it a freak accident, but the real challenge now is practical: the Chargers need to sort through replacement options quickly and keep the line from becoming a weak spot before the games start counting. The team did make a roster addition in wide receiver Gary Jennings, yet the bigger question remains how Los Angeles fills the void created by Biadasz's absence. [Read more 🡒]