Rashawn Slater's absence begins to loom over Chargers training camp

It seemed like we were mostly out of the woods on Rashawn Slater medical watch last week. After he was not allowed back into practice following a trip to the medical tent in San Diego on Aug. 4, he practiced the next day. Slater also practiced again when the team returned to The Bolt on Aug. 6. All things considered, it seemed like the Chargers had survived a scare.

Not so fast (maybe). The Chargers didn't have practice on Friday before they returned to the field on Saturday. HC Jim Harbaugh announced at the podium the Slater would be one of the players having a vet rest day. On Saturday, there was no reason to bat an eye. At that point, Slater had basically participated in every training camp practice so far.

The Rashawn Slater saga takes an awkward turn at Chargers training camp.

One rest day wouldn't get much attention. But then Slater also missed practiced on Sunday. And per ESPN's Kris Rhim, the Northwestern product was included of a list of players not practicing on Monday. That puts Slater at three consecutive days of practice missed now.

On Saturday, Harbaugh's belief was that Slater was making good progress in his recovery. He noted that Slater was able to go three reps without rotating after he was previously at two.

He returned for two more practices after the initial medical concern practice in San Diego. For that reason, this doesn't seem like a DEFCON 1 situation quite yet. But this should serve as a bit of a reality check that Slater's full recovery and return to form from his ruptured patellar tendon will take some time. As noted by The Athletic's Daniel Popper, trainers in San Diego were working on Slater's surgically repaired left leg at the August 4th practice.

We'll find out just how confident the Chargers are in Slater's recovery by sometime next week. Harbaugh mentioned wanting to play the starters at least one series vs. the 49ers and in two series vs. the Rams in the preseason. Hopefully, Slater returns to practice before then so we can see the new offensive line build some continuity in live action. But if Slater has suffered a true setback, one wonders if we'd see him in the preseason at all. It's still a little too early for that conversation, but time will tell.

One rest day made sense. Three rest days in a row doesn't seem planned.

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