Chargers RB J.K. Dobbins to miss 'some time' with knee sprain suffered vs. Ravens

After LA Chargers running back J.K. Dobbins missed the second half of Monday's game vs. the Baltimore Ravens, speculation intensified on just how much time he might miss during the season.

ESPN's Laura Rutledge reported at halftime that Dobbins had a brace on his knee and was on the sideline at the end of the first half. However, he never came back on the field in the second half.

On Wednesday morning, NFL insider Ian Rapoport provided insight into his injury. Dobbins suffered a knee sprain before halftime on Monday and will miss "some time." Rapoport said he will miss this coming Sunday's game against the Falcons in Atlanta. After that, his return is "up in the air" on a week-to-week basis.

The news comes as a big blow to the Chargers in the short term. Dobbins leads the Chargers in rushing with 766 yards in his comeback season from a torn Achilles he suffered in 2023. Second on the team in rushing is quarterback Justin Herbert with 211 yards.

Gus Edwards, presumably the starter in Dobbins' absence, has just 211 yards on the season. Dealing with an injury recovery from the offseason that landed him on IR earlier this year, Edwards has averaged just 3.3 yards per carry this season.

How will the Chargers replace J.K. Dobbins?

With Dobbins, Edwards, and Hassan Haskins active on gamedays, sixth-round selection Kimani Vidal has been a healthy scratch in recent weeks. He filled in as the team's RB2 for about a month when Edwards was placed on IR in Week 6. Expect Vidal to once again get a portion of the teams' rushing and receiving volume in Dobbins' absence.

An approach in which Vidal takes a bulk of the work on obvious passing downs and Edwards takes the short yardage/early down situations is probably the best functionality fit for the team. The aforementioned Haskins will still be used as a core special teamer and pass protection/short-yardage specialist.

It'll be up to Greg Roman to scheme up the best possible run game without Dobbins. Even when excluding Herbert from the count, Dobbins still accounts for over 70% of the Chargers' rushing production this season (766 yards divided by a team rushing yardage total of 1091).

It will not be easy to replace him, especially given the Chargers' interior run blocking. Leaguewide, Los Angeles ranks 14th in run block win rate after 11 games.

With Dobbins now reportedly out for at least Sunday's game, the Chargers will have to find some gameplan solutions in the backfield before taking on the Falcons.