The Chargers may be without one of their top running backs for a bit, but he shouldn’t miss too much time.
Per Ian Rapoport of NFL Media, Kimani Vidal was diagnosed with a neck strain and is considered day-to-day.
Vidal had to exit Sunday’s eventual victory over the Cowboys early on in the contest.
In 12 games with 10 starts this season, Vidal leads the Chargers with 631 yards rushing. He’s rushed for three touchdowns and caught 15 passes for 138 yards with a TD.
Playing the Texans on Saturday, the Chargers’ first injury report of the week is due out on Tuesday.
The Chargers will not have one of their key defensive players for the last two weeks of the regular season.
The league announced on Monday that linebacker Denzel Perryman has been suspended for two games for repeated violations of player-safety rules.
The NFL’s announcement notes that Perryman was flagged for unnecessary roughness for delivering a forcible blow to the helmet of Cowboys receiver Ryan Flournoy while he was on the ground after making a catch during the second quarter of Sunday’s game. That action violated Rule 12, Section 2, Article 10(b), which prohibits “using any part of the helmet or facemask to butt or make forcible contact to an opponent’s head or neck area.”
Ian Rapoport of NFL Media reports Perryman will appeal the suspension, which would be heard and decided by Derrick Brooks, Ramon Foster, or Jordy Nelson — the NFL and NFLPA’s jointly appointed hearing officers.
Notably, this is Perryman’s second two-game suspension for repeated violations of player-safety rules. The first came back in 2023 when he was playing for the Texans.
Currently, Perryman is eligible to return to Los Angeles’ active roster on Monday, Jan. 5, the day after the team’s currently scheduled regular-season finale against the Broncos.
The Chargers took care of business with a 34-17 victory over the Cowboys on Sunday afternoon.
Los Angeles moved to 11-4, while Dallas fell to 6-8-1 with a third consecutive loss. The Cowboys were eliminated from playoff contention with the Eagles’ victory on Saturday night.
The Cowboys trailed only 21-17 at halftime, but the Chargers outscored them 13-0 in the second half and outgained them 219 to 129.
Justin Herbert completed 23 of 29 passes for 300 yards and two touchdowns. He was happy to have wide receiver Quentin Johnston back as the wide receiver made four receptions for 104 yards and a touchdown, a dandy one-hander that went for 23 yards to open the Chargers’ scoring.
Ladd McConkey caught a 25-yard touchdown.
Herbert ran for a 1-yard touchdown on a quarterback push play, and Omarion Hampton had a 5-yard touchdown run. Hampton ran for 85 yards on 16 carries.
Dak Prescott was 21-of-30 for 244 yards and two touchdowns before Joe Milton finished in mop-up duty. George Pickens caught seven passes for 130 yards and a touchdown, and CeeDee Lamb went over 1,000 yards again with 51 yards on six catches.
The Texans’ inactive list offers mostly good news.
Running back Nick Chubb (ribs), cornerback Derek Stingley (oblique) and wide receiver Christian Kirk (illness) are dressed for Sunday’s game against the Raiders. All three were listed as questionable.
Chubb and rookie Jawhar Jordan will share carries in Woody Marks’ absence. Jordan made his NFL debut last week and rushed for 101 yards.
The Texans’ inactives are linebacker Azeez Al-Shaair (ankle/knee), wide receiver Braxton Berrios, quarterback Graham Mertz, Marks (ankle), cornerback Ameer Speed, defensive end Solomon Byrd and offensive tackle Jarrett Kingston. Mertz is the emergency third quarterback.
The Raiders’ inactives are running back Zamir White, quarterback Aidan O’Connell, cornerback Darnay Holmes, tight end Ian Thomas and defensive tackle Brodric Martin. O’Connell will serve as the emergency third quarterback.
The Cowboys will play the second half without two of their key players.
They have ruled out linebacker DeMarvion Overshown (concussion) and wide receiver Ryan Flournoy (knee).
Overshown was injured on the Chargers’ first offensive series on the same play Chargers left tackle Jamaree Salyer went out with a hamstring injury. Salyer also is ruled out.
Flournoy caught a 5-yard touchdown pass and had a second 5-yard touchdown pass negated by a holding penalty on left guard Tyler Smith. He finishes his day with two catches for 18 yards.
The Chargers list cornerback Donte Jackson (groin) as questionable to return.
Los Angeles kicked a field goal on the first drive of the second half, increasing its lead to 24-17.
