The LA Chargers have dealt with a laundry list of injuries all season and in Week 9 against the Atlanta Falcons, it is the wide receiver room that is banged up the most. Mike Williams is out 4-6 weeks with an ankle sprain while Keenan Allen reaggravated his hamstring injury during the bye. Both are out of this game.
That leaves the team with Joshua Palmer as the WR1 in this game. Behind him, the Bolts had DeAndre Carter, Jason Moore and Michael Bandy on the active roster. However, Carter was added to the injury report on Friday and listed as questionable for the game with an illness.
Despite Carter's status essentially being a game-time decision, the LA Chargers made a very interesting decision at wide receiver, intentionally leaving the room thin. The team placed Donald Parham on the IR with a hamstring injury and elevated wide receiver Keelan Doss to the active roster. That shouldn't have been the last thing that the team did, but it was.
Instead of using one of the team's two practice squad elevations on another receiver like Joe Reed or John Hightower, the Chargers instead elevated kicker Cameron Dicker (necessary) and cornerback Kemon Hall (unnecessary).
Cameron Dicker and Kemon Hall also elevated for tomorrow’s game. https://t.co/ywgskh8e0W
— Eric Smith (@Eric_L_Smith) November 5, 2022
It is hard to explain this Chargers roster decision at wide receiver.
The Chargers were going to be thin no matter what at wide receiver in this game and at the end of the day, they were choosing between practice squad players and the ceiling is obviously limited when those are your options. However, the sheer number of receivers that are on the depth chart for this game is pretty absurd.
The Chargers are rolling out five wide receivers in Palmer, Carter, Bandy, Moore and Doss. If Carter doesn't play then the Chargers are only going to have four wide receivers on the active roster on game day. How does that happen?
Some may say that this is a sign that Carter is going to play on Sunday, which certainly should be the hope. However, can we really trust this team and coaching staff's judgment on when players will return and whether or not they can play? The messaging all season has been poor and earlier in the year, Corey Linsley had a "24-hour illness" that bled into Sunday and led to him missing the game.
Regardless, this a must-win for the Chargers with two very tough opponents due up next and with the status of the roster, it is hard to be optimistic about the outcome.