In hindsight, it truly does seem as though the Los Angeles Chargers' season was doomed from the moment they lost star tackle Joe Alt to an ankle injury.
The team had already lost Rashawn Slater to a torn patellar tendon in the preseason. Losing Alt after slotting him into Slater's spot and bringing Trey Pipkins III into the starting offensive line proved to be the death knell for the Los Angeles offense.
At the very least, fans can look forward to a hopefully replenished and re-tooled offensive line in 2026.
Although the organization was somewhat clandestine about the true nature of Alt's injury, he revealed limited detail in his final interview of the season yesterday via Daniel Popper of The Athletic:
Joe Alt did not want to go into the specifics of his ankle injury, but when asked if there was a fracture and ligament damage, he said, “Everything you could do to an ankle, I did, pretty much.”
— Daniel Popper (@danielrpopper) January 12, 2026
Alt added: “The goal is to have it not affect me at all” heading into 2026.
The Chargers have spent significant draft capital trying to solidify their offensive line, and it has become clear that Alt is the key to the whole structure. While it is encouraging that he plans to be back fully healthy in 2026, the severity of the injury creates cause for concern.
Joe Alt's ankle injury was severe, but now we know how bad it was
After a stellar rookie season, Alt being limited to just six games in 2025 was nothing short of disastrous. He suffered a high ankle sprain in Week 4 that sidelined him for three weeks, only to suffer his season-ending injury in just his second game back.
Even with Slater out, Alt was the piece the held the offensive line together. Although they were solid enough to propel the Chargers to some big early-season wins, the bottom fell out after Alt's injury.
Los Angeles finished the season with the league's 30th-best offensive line, according to Pro Football Focus (PFF).
Yet Alt still did enough is his six games to earn his first career Pro Bowl nod. According to PFF, he was the sixth-best pass blocking tackle in the league during the time he played.
While it's still not entirely certain what Alt's exact injury was, comparison to similarly devastating injuries among tackles yields mixed results.
Ronnie Stanley played only one game in 2021 with a severe ankle injury, only to return to top form in the following years and earn another Pro Bowl nod. There are also more dismal cases, such as that of former top prospect Luke Joeckel, who suffered a season-ending ankle injury in his rookie season for the Jacksonville Jaguars and never quite found his footing at the NFL level as a result.
It remains to be seen whether Alt's "goal" will be met and whether he will return to full form in 2026. The Charger can do nothing but desperately hope that proves to be the case.