The LA Chargers lost their first game of the Jim Harbaugh era in Week 3 against a Pittsburgh Steelers team that is now 3-0 on the season. Los Angeles controlled the game for the entire first half but ultimately lost the war of attrition as the injuries started to pile up.
It wasn't just that the Chargers dealt with multiple injuries, it was the fact the team dealt with injuries to the best players on the roster. It started with Joey Bosa after just one snap and eventually snowballed into Justin Herbert, Rashawn Slater, and rookie Joe Alt.
Losing a game in Week 3 is not going to derail a team's season but losing any assortment of four of the best players on the roster certainly will. Thus, all Chargers fans care about after the loss is the future, and unfortunately, head coach Jim Harbaugh did not provide much clarity after the game.
Chargers HC Jim Harbaugh on injury updates: "I don't have an update right now."
— Alex Insdorf (@alexinsdorf99) September 22, 2024
"As soon as I saw Justin (Herbert) got up, first sign of any limp he was coming out of the game. I took him out."
"Joey (Bosa) reaggravated the hip. Rashawn (Slater) strain of the pec." pic.twitter.com/tyf1DFGLAB
Jim Harbaugh doesn't answer Chargers fans' questions about injuries
To be fair, it is really hard to give an accurate forecast of how these injuries might shake out in the coming weeks. There is no world in which Harbaugh was going to be able to tell reporters exactly how long the team expects this quartet to be out.
That being said, fans were still hopeful that they would get more information out of the Chargers' head coach. At the very least, fans were hoping for reassurance from Harbaugh that he did not expect Herbert (or any of the others) to miss any action moving forward.
That is obviously not what Harbaugh provided and it leaves all doors open. There is a world in which these injuries are minor and the Chargers were being precautionary early in the season. There is also a world in which they are more serious than expected, and extend past the Week 5 bye.
Unfortunately, this is going to be the reality with Harbaugh as the team's head coach. Perhaps the only downside of Harbaugh being head coach is that he will not provide any kind of information on the health of his players. It is probably best to do that so opponents do not pick up information, but it does leave more questions than answers for fans.
The only information Chargers fans got after the game was the fact that Herbert was in a walking boot. That is not particularly surprising given how he was limping on the sideline after the injury.
These injuries will continue to be a storyline Chargers fans monitor throughout the week as the team prepares for the toughest test of the season against the Kansas City Chiefs. Don't expect to get any concrete answers any time soon.