Jim Harbaugh didn’t need long to pinpoint what bothered him most after the Chargers opened the season with a loss to the Arizona Cardinals: the way his offense looked, and the way he handled the preseason.
The Los Angeles coach said Monday that he now wishes his starters had gotten more work before Week 1, after Sunday’s game featured the kind of uneven execution he said the team can’t afford.
“We made some preseason type of mistakes,” Harbaugh said during his Monday press conference. “Now in retrospect, I wish we'd played our guys a little bit more in the preseason and given them those reps.”
That comment came after a debut that showed plenty of moving parts on offense but not enough rhythm. The Chargers had retooled around quarterback Justin Herbert, adding former Pro Bowl tight end David Njoku, fourth-year running back Keaton Mitchell and multiple offensive linemen, including center Tyler Biadasz. They also brought in former Miami Dolphins head coach Mike McDaniel as offensive coordinator in January.
Still, Herbert and several other starters barely played in the preseason. The 28-year-old quarterback logged just seven snaps across two games, and Sunday’s result suggested the group could have used more time together.
Los Angeles scored first when Omarion Hampton found the end zone with 4:27 left in the first quarter, but that was the last touchdown for a while. The Chargers didn’t score again until Herbert connected with Ladd McConkey with a little more than six minutes left in the third quarter.
McConkey then exited with a rib injury and did not return for the fourth quarter, when the offense unraveled further. Herbert threw an interception, the Chargers turned it over on downs twice, and he was sacked three times in the loss.
“Some uncharacteristic things happened,” Harbaugh said after the game. “Give (the Cardinals) credit for making them happen.
I would call it sloppy at times. Too sloppy.
That's something we need to get fixed.”
In Other News...
Rams May Add One More Star And The Risk Is Obvious
Tyreek Hills name has found its way into the Rams conversation, and the fit is easy enough to understand. Los Angeles is being viewed by MLFootball as the current favorite to land the free-agent wide receiver, a player whose resume includes eight Pro Bowls and six All-Pro nods, and whose explosive playmaking would give Sean McVay another dangerous weapon in an offense that already expects to contend.
The appeal comes with an obvious catch. Hill is working back from a knee injury suffered in 2025, and his agent has indicated a possible return around October, which means any team chasing him has to balance upside with uncertainty. For the Rams, who are sitting on strong Super Bowl odds, the question is whether the potential payoff of adding Hill is worth the injury concern and the volatility that has long been part of his game. [Read more 🡒]
49ers Just Turned To A Former Rams Receiver After Week 1
San Franciscos Week 1 injury fallout reached the receiver room quickly, as DeZhaun Stribling was moved to injured reserve after hurting his left ankle against the Rams. To help fill the gap, the 49ers promoted KhaDarel Hodge from the practice squad to the active roster, a move that gives them another veteran option as they sort through the early-season depth chart.
Hodge is familiar to Rams fans, and his return to the NFC West adds a little extra familiarity to a situation that already changed fast after the opener. He played mostly on special teams in the season opener, but the promotion suggests San Francisco values the experience he brings to a receiving group that already needed reinforcements. [Read more 🡒]
Kelly Stafford Just Entered A Heated Debate Rams Fans Will Notice
Sydney Sweeneys new partnership with sports prediction platform Novig has stirred up more than the usual celebrity chatter, drawing criticism from female athletes who see the campaign as part of a larger message aimed at young women. Olympic swimmer Ariarne Titmus was among those who pushed back, and Kelly Stafford added her own voice to the conversation by resharing a video about the pressures girls face around appearance and attention.
Staffords involvement is the sort of off-field debate Rams fans tend to notice because it comes from the quarterbacks wife and lands squarely in a culture conversation already stretching beyond sports. Sweeney has responded by posting old ESPN magazine covers featuring nude athletes, but she has not directly addressed Staffords remarks, leaving the exchange hanging in a way that will likely keep it circulating a while longer. [Read more 🡒]