Despite it being the offseason, there’s still some injury LA Chargers news to discuss. Chargers safety Derwin James was slated to participate in Tom Brady’s Fanatics Flag Football Classic on Saturday ... until he wasn't.
Fanatics released a statement indicating that James suffered a “minor injury” earlier in the week before reporting for the game. Longtime Vikings safety Harrison Smith was selected as a replacement for the Chargers' Pro Bowler. Fanatics called the replacement of James in the event a “precaution”.
Derwin James scratched from Tom Brady's Flag Football Classic with injury
James is coming off his second consecutive All-Pro season for the Chargers in 2025. He played a big role in keeping Jesse Minter’s defense dominant.
It’s hard to speculate on the nature of the injury without knowing the details. But at this time, one would hope that James’ injury is truly minor as described in the Fanatics release. Considering it’s the offseason, it’s unlikely we’ll hear more information unless it becomes a more serious situation.
James was scheduled to be a member of “Team Wildcats” in Brady’s exhibition event. Other NFL Pro Bowlers like Jalen Hurts, Joe Burrow, Saquon Barkley, and many more are participating in the game on Saturday.
Ultimately, one would imagine the game has a Pro Bowl exhibition atmosphere as a flag football game. There’s likely limited injury risk for the players. But whatever James’ injury might be clearly caused him to have some second thoughts. And at this stage of the offseason, it’s obviously better to be safe than sorry.
James will return to the Chargers in 2026 for OTAs and minicamp this spring. While there’s no set date yet, that stage of the offseason has generally taken place after the NFL Draft in May and June. As mentioned earlier, the status of James’ injury might not be known for a while because of the timing.
Hopefully, James is alright and avoided a worse injury as a result of removing himself from the exhibition. As fun as it would’ve been to see him in this event, he’s critical on the defensive side of the ball for the Chargers.