Injuries are naturally going to happen throughout the course of an NFL season and expecting a completely clean bill of health is expecting disappointment. LA Chargers fans are even more seasoned on how to deal with injuries as the team historically has some of the worst injury luck in the sport.
That bad injury luck seemed to be turning around at the start of training camp with J.C. Jackson being way ahead of schedule in his recovery. However, the other shoe has now fallen as the Chargers are dealing with an injury to another significant defensive player.
The Bolts announced that Sebastian Joseph-Day would miss "some time" with a quad injury on Saturday. The exact definition of "some time" is unclear, with fans having no idea whether or not they can expect SJD to play in Week 1.
Sebastian Joseph-Day will miss some time with a quad injury, per #Chargers.
— Daniel Popper (@danielrpopper) August 5, 2023
Regardless of if he is able to or not, this injury shines a bright spotlight on a mistake the Chargers made in the offseason that was definitely avoidable.
Sebastian Joseph-Day injury highlights Chargers' mistake of letting Breiden Fehoko leave
Breiden Fehoko became a fan favorite for several reasons. He was one of the standouts of Hard Knocks in 2020, he was engaging on social media, and he played very well every single time he got a chance.
Fehoko is not a pass-rush specialist and is not someone who is going to play every single down on the interior defensive line. However, he proved every single time he got a chance that he could be a serviceable run-stopping interior defensive lineman. And at every turn, the Chargers showed they didn't believe in him.
The Bolts non-tendered Fehoko and unlike Donald Parham, the team did not re-sign him to a cheaper deal than the tender would have been. This allowed Fehoko to explore the market and he eventually signed a one-year, $940,000 contract with the Pittsburgh Steelers. The Chargers could have afforded that.
The Chargers also would have really benefitted from having Fehoko right now. SJD is not the only injured member of the defensive line as Austin Johnson and Otito Ogbonnia were both placed on the PUP list to start training camp.
The current interior defensive line group consists of Morgan Fox (great pass rusher, not great at stopping the run), a rookie in Scott Matlock, an undrafted free agent in Jerrod Clark and a veteran the team signed (who is arguably worse than Fehoko, keep in mind), Nick Williams.
It is clear that Brandon Staley and the Chargers never quite believed in Fehoko and it never made any sort of sense to Chargers fans. He was by no means a star but he was everything the team needed in a rotational defensive lineman.