Chargers hit a snag, place rookie LB Junior Colson on NFI list

LA Chargers linebacker Junior Colson was placed on the non-football illness list by the team in a transaction today. The report comes courtesy of the NFL's transaction wire, first reported on social media by KPRC2's Aaron Wilson.

Yesterday was training camp reporting day for Los Angeles' 2024 rookie draft class.The Chargers put up photographs of rookies who reported yesterday on their website. Colson was not seen pictured in any of the photographs posted, an observation made prior to today's news.

Back in OTAs, Colson suffered an injury that caused him to walk off of the field with a trainer, per the beat reporters that were present. He then spent most of minicamp sidelined doing drills separately.

But based on the Chargers' NFI designation, this illness likely doesn't have much to do with the Michigan product's injury earlier this offseason. Last season, safety JT Woods spent time on the NFI/reserve list for an undisclosed illness.

What is next for Junior Colson and the Chargers?

Time will tell if Colson's currently unknown illness will lead to an extended absence. A number of rookies do start training camp on NFI. Unless he is later placed on the reserve list prior to the start of the 2024 regular season, there's no reason to assume that he'll miss games yet.

The previous undisclosed offseason practice injury and this new undisclosed illness come at an unfortunate time for the Chargers' rookie LB. HC Jim Harbaugh gave a glowing review of Colson's performance prior to his initial injury back in May.

If Colson does end up missing an amount of time in training camp due to this placement on the non-football illness list, it would lead to Denzel Perryman and Daiyan Henley getting the bulk of the starter reps at linebacker.

As far as we know now, the rest of the Chargers' rookie class was able to report to training camp yesterday without any issues. Next Wednesday will be when the Chargers' first practice at "The Bolt" takes place.

Colson would need to be cleared and off of the NFI list by then to be able to participate in the teams' opening practices. Hopefully, this illness is shorter term for their prized third-round rookie linebacker prospect.

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