Jim Harbaugh is keeping the Chargers’ preseason finale short and sweet.
With Los Angeles set to face the Rams on Thursday night at SoFi Stadium, the head coach said the starters will only get a brief run in the game as the regular season nears.
“Yes, it's more it's more about a matter of plays to me. Somewhere in the six to eight range, six to nine, kind of a range. So, and specifically about six to nine plays,” Harbaugh said Tuesday.
That sounds like roughly one drive for the first units, which is the standard kind of preseason tune-up teams usually want at this stage. For the Chargers, the value is in getting live work before the games start to count for real.
The offense, in particular, could use the reps. Los Angeles is still sorting out its starting offensive line, and Thursday offers one last chance to see that group together before Week 1. The projected line at the moment has Rashawn Slater at left tackle, Kayode Awosika at left guard, Jake Slaughter at center, Cole Strange at right guard, and Joe Alt at right tackle.
Left guard remains the only real question. The Chargers have not officially named a starter there, but Awosika appears to be the leading candidate, with Trey Pipkins III and Branson Taylor also in the mix if he doesn’t win the job.
Slater is also working back from the knee flare-up he dealt with earlier in August, though he has returned to practice and is trending in the right direction. If he’s out there Thursday, the Chargers should get a cleaner look at the full starting offense.
Defensively, the situation is much simpler. There aren’t any major injury concerns or big lineup questions, which is a good place to be for Chris O'Leary in his first season as defensive coordinator.
That means Derwin James Jr., Tuli Tuipulotu, Daiyan Henley, Khalil Mack, and the rest of the defensive starters should get at least one series together. For that group, the goal is getting more comfortable with how O'Leary wants to call things and building on a strong 2025 performance.
Special teams will also be part of the tune-up. Punter J.K.
Scott and kicker Cameron Dicker are expected to play again after a rough outing against the 49ers. In that game, Dicker missed an extra point, and Scott allowed a punt return touchdown where he could have made the tackle, but did not.
If both can clean things up, it would give Harbaugh and special teams coordinator Ryan Ficken something positive to carry into the regular season.
For the Chargers, Thursday is less about the scoreboard and more about getting the starters a controlled final look, while giving the roster hopefuls a chance to make their case.
In Other News...
Chargers Fringe Players Face One Last Shot To Survive Cutdown Day
With cutdown day approaching, the Chargers still have a handful of fringe roster battles hanging in the balance, and the preseason has given several players one last chance to make their case. Jacob Spomer, Amar Johnson, Andre Carter II, Junior Colson, TeRah Edwards and Greg Desrosiers Jr. have all been trying to turn limited opportunities into something more meaningful, whether that means a spot on the 53-man roster or a path to the practice squad.
For a team sorting through injuries and crowded position groups, those late-August evaluations matter as much as anything that happened earlier in camp. The Chargers are not just judging production in a vacuum, either, since special teams value, depth needs and positional fit all factor into the final call, leaving a few players squarely on the edge as the deadline closes in. [Read more 🡒]
Chargers Special Teams Breakdown Put JK Scott Under The Spotlight
The Chargers had one of those preseason moments on special teams that can linger long after the snap, when a coverage lapse turned into an 83-yard punt return touchdown against the 49ers. Special teams coordinator Ryan Ficken dug into the play afterward and made clear the problem was not a single bad bounce or one isolated miss, but a unit-wide failure to do the job on the coverage side.
JK Scott still found himself in the middle of the discussion, since Ficken said the punter should have helped finish the play and was disappointed he did not make the tackle. Even so, the emphasis was on how the coverage lost contain and opened the door for the return, a reminder that the Chargers third phase is still sorting out its details before the games start to count. [Read more 🡒]
Chargers Have One Last Chance To Build Momentum Against The Rams
The final preseason tuneup against the Rams gives the Chargers one more shot to carry some momentum into the real thing, even if most of the familiar names are likely to be off the field quickly. Both teams have already shown their hand this month, with Los Angeles on the other side of the city winning its first two preseason games while the Chargers have split theirs, and the matchup also serves as a reminder that the clubs will see plenty more of each other when the regular season arrives on Nov. 1, 2026.
There is still enough intrigue to make this one worth watching, especially with the Rams getting strong early returns from first-round pick Ty Simpson in exhibition play. For the Chargers, though, the bigger question is how much they can glean from a game in which both coaching staffs have signaled a light workload for starters, leaving the spotlight on depth players trying to make one last impression before the preseason closes. [Read more 🡒]