The LA Chargers are back from their bye week, and so are daily practice injury reports. This one's a doozy. There are 17 names listed in varying capacities on the teams' Wednesday injury report.
Now some of the anxiety can be relieved with not all of the names being injury related. Edge rusher Khalil Mack has traditionally gotten Wednesdays off for rest purposes, and that's the capacity he's listed in. S Derwin James' (personal) absence was also not injury related
LB Nick Niemann (hamstring) is still technically on IR despite returning to practice last week. But he practiced today in a full capacity for the first time this season. Niemann seems on pace to make his season debut against Denver on Sunday, which would be a particularly big win for Ryan Ficken's special teams unit.
The Chargers have nine players listed in a limited practice capacity. These include QB Justin Hebert (ankle), RT Joe Alt (knee), LB Junior Colson (hamstring), LB Daiyan Henley (shoulder), TE Hayden Hurst (Achilles), EDGE Khalil Mack (rest), LB Denzel Perryman (shoulder), CB Asante Samuel Jr. (shoulder), and LT Rashawn Slater (pectoral).
Chargers QB Justin Herbert on his ankle: "I don't know what percentage it is, but I know it's feeling better."
— Alex Insdorf (@alexinsdorf99) October 9, 2024
Says he's communicating with the coaching and training staffs to avoid setbacks.
"We're getting better...I made it through the game and the BYE week helped to keep the… pic.twitter.com/XGkcOSVoPk
Despite the long Chargers injury report, it is not all bad
Most of those injuries from the limited capacity category were previously known and being managed. The biggest positive movement is the presence of Rashawn Slater at practice. It's his first officially logged practice since the pec strain vs. Pittsburgh.
There are a lot of reasonable questions to have about the Chargers offense, but getting Alt, Slater, and Herbert back together would certainly be a step in the right direction.
Seven players are listed as DNPs. The aforementioned James was absent for personal reasons. But on an injury basis, the DNPs include EDGE Joey Bosa (hip), K Cameron Dicker (illness), RB Gus Edwards (ankle), CB Kristian Fulton (knee), CB Ja'Sir Taylor (fibula), and CB Deane Leonard (hamstring).
Dicker is a bit of a concerning addition to the report with an illness considering the Chargers do not have a kicker on deck via the practice squad. If he were to miss Sunday's game, Los Angeles would have to sign someone prior to their Denver trip. But it seems like they still have confidence in him to be able to go with the lack of a move so far.
Bosa still has not practiced since his injury vs. Pittsburgh in the first quarter. It doesn't seem like much tangential progress is being made there, although he was seen working off to the side on Monday. Bosa was not spotted at practice on Wednesday however.
A particularly big challenge is the Chargers' cornerback depth right now. All three of the Chargers' starting corners are listed on the injury report to start the week in addition to Deane Leonard. A banged up cornerback group would be a bit of a bummer considering how well the secondary has started the season.
We'll see how much progress the Chargers make between now and Sunday. But it seems like LA hasn't made quite as much recovery progress during the bye week as some fans would've hoped for entering the Denver game.