The Chargers continue their preseason after a dominant 34-7 win in last week's Hall of Fame Game. Key standout performances by CB Nikko Reed, RB Kimani Vidal, and QB Trey Lance were the highlights from their first preseason contest.
The final week of Chargers' training camp was a roller coaster of emotions. The return of WR Keenan Allen was a highlight of the teams' last public practices. But it was overshadowed by Rashawn Slater's injured left patellar tendon. Slater was declared out for the entirety of the Chargers' 2025 campaign in a statement released by the team on Thursday evening.
Despite the injury, the Chargers will try to pick up the pieces and continue their strong start to the preseason campaign. On Sunday, the Saints come marching into SoFi Stadium.
Five Chargers players to watch vs. the Saints:
LT Jamaree Salyer
The position listed here wasn't a typo. HC Jim Harbaugh said on Friday that Jamaree Salyer would get the start at left tackle.
Salyer took over at left tackle in the 2022 season after Rashawn Slater's bicep injury that year. He played fairly well over the remainder of that season's campaign. In 2024, Salyer started one game at left tackle vs. the Chiefs when the Chargers dealt with injuries to both Slater and Joe Alt.
Trey Pipkins will start at right tackle and Alt will slide over to left tackle when the Chargers face off against the Chiefs in Week 1. But should the Chargers be hit with another tackle injury at some point during the season, Salyer would most certainly be a contender to get kicked out to the LT or RT spots based on his previous experience.
It makes sense for the Chargers to get him some tackle reps here considering how dire the offensive line situation is post-Slater injury. Even if the Chargers could guarantee 17 games of health for both Alt and Pipkins, being prepared for all possible injury scenarios is key. Salyer will look to continue his strong offseason process that the coaching staff has raved about.
RB Raheim "Rocket" Sanders
UDFA Raheim "Rocket" Sanders missed the teams' first preseason game last week. He was held out of most practices near the start of camp due to an undisclosed injury. At the end of practices last weekend, Sanders was still wearing a yellow non-contact jersey reserved for injured players.
That changed for Sanders at the start of this week's practices. He had his normal jersey on and finally got some run in team drills. As the Chargers still have Najee Harris on the NFI list, Sanders will look to make his first real impression on the coaching staff in Sunday's game.
The RB4 spot is still up for grabs even if Harris returns for Week 1. If Harris misses the teams' first four games, there could be two RB spots available behind Omarion Hampton and Vidal. Despite a bumpy injury-plagued start to the training camp process, Sanders will look to show off his explosiveness and physicality for the first time on an NFL field.
WR Tre' Harris
Tre' Harris had a rather quiet first NFL preseason game last week. He was targeted just once on 13 passing downs. It would be nice to see Harris respond to the performance put up by fellow rookie KeAndre Lambert-Smith from last week.
Harris has been killing it in practices with highlight catches and multiple touchdown days. It's not a complete necessity, but it would be nice to see him beat some preseason coverage looks before he gets tested at a higher level during the regular season.
At the end of the day, there's no concern from me in Harris' current role. But it would be nice to see some of the explosiveness and route running chops that had him rated as a top big play threat in college football last season. Harris' 5.20 yards per route run in 2024 was higher than every other receiver in his draft class.
DT Jamaree Caldwell
Jamaree Caldwell looked every bit like the kind of player the Chargers thought they were getting in the third round. For his insane size, he looked springy, elastic and versatile. Caldwell had two QB hurries, three tackles, and two defensive stops.
Jamaree Caldwell was a steal imo pic.twitter.com/DXLE5ohBtX
— Theo Ash (@TheoAshNFL) August 2, 2025
In his media availability from Thursday, DC Jesse Minter said he wanted to see a repeat performance from Caldwell as he continues to stack games and practices. If the Oregon product can continue his momentum this preseason, the sky could be the limit in terms of his regular season usage.
LB Junior Colson
Minter didn't seem terribly pleased with Junior Colson's play in the Hall of Fame Game. While he praised his snap count and his ability to stay on the field, Minter admitted that it was a fairly mixed bag of a performance. Specifically, the Chargers DC indicated that he'd like to see more aggressiveness from the former third-round pick out of Michigan.
Colson had one charted missed tackle per PFF and just looked a step slow in his diagnosis and coverage. He allowed two receptions for 34 yards and an opposing passer rating of 104.9.
If Colson is going to play a decisively bigger role this season, he has to get some positive momentum going in the Chargers' last three preseason games.