The Chargers placed offensive lineman Trey Pipkins III on injured reserve, the team announced Saturday.
Pipkins, who was ruled out for Week 3 with a knee injury, will miss at least the next four games.
With Kayode Awosika (fibula) also ruled out, Trevor Penning will start at left guard.
In a corresponding move, the team signed quarterback DJ Uiagalelei to the active roster. In addition, the Chargers elevated tight end Patrick Herbert and outside linebacker Caleb Murphy from the practice squad for Sunday’s game.
Backup quarterback Trey Lance popped up on Friday’s injury report as questionable, prompting the Chargers to sign Uiagalelei to the active roster. He will backup Justin Herbert against the Bills if Lance is unavailable.
The Chargers are hurting at tight end with injuries to David Njoku and Charlie Kolar, so Patrick Herbert will add depth. Murphy is a core special teams player.
Chargers Clips
It was a bad weekend for the Brothers Harbaugh at SoFi Stadium. On Monday night, John lost his game and his quarterback. One day earlier, Jim’s Chargers joined the 1926 Racine Tornadoes in losing back-to-back home games who won fewer than 20 percent of their games in the prior season.
The Chargers emerged from what were, on paper, two winnable games with an 0-2 record. For Jim Harbaugh, it’s the first time he has ever started 0-2 as a head coach, at the college or pro level.
Although the 2026 start is depressing, it’s impressive that he went 22 seasons without losing two straight games to open a campaign. The run includes three years at the University of San Diego, four at Stanford, four with the 49ers, nine at Michigan, and his first two with the Chargers.
That won’t make him feel much better about the current predicament, especially with a four-game gauntlet before the Chargers’ Week 7 bye (at Bills, at Seahawks, Broncos, at Chiefs).
Jim needs to dig deep into the bag of Jack Harbaugh motivational quotes to turn this one around. The fact that Sunday’s game is regarded as a trap game for the Bills shows how quickly the L.A. program has crumbled.
The Chargers have now lost five in a row dating back to 2025, and they haven’t scored 17 or more points in any of them. If something doesn’t change, changes could be coming after the dust settles on the next four weekends and the Chargers get extra time to figure things out before facing the Rams, Texans, and Ravens.
Eight teams entered Week 3 at 0-2. One of them — the Falcons — avoided an 0-3 start. For the others, it becomes imperative to avoid starting the year with three straight losses.
In NFL history, only seven teams have made the playoffs after starting 0-3. The group includes the 2025 Texans, the 2018 Texans, the 1998 Bills, the 1995 Lions, the 1992 Chargers, the 1982 Buccaneers, and the 1981 Jets.
Only the ’92 Chargers made it to the postseason after starting 0-4.
It’s easier now than it once was, thanks to 17 regular-season games and seven playoff spots per conference. It’s still not easy.
For starters, plenty of teams that start 0-3 do so for a very good reason — they’re not very good. Those that are have a reduced margin for error over the final 14 games.
This year, one game features two 0-2 teams: the Texans at the Colts. The other winless teams are the Dolphins, the Titans, the Chargers, the Commanders, and the Buccaneers.
Bills quarterback Josh Allen has gotten off to a great start in 2026. He’s already made a little history — and he could make some more.
Per NBC Sports research, Allen is one of only three players with nine or more total touchdowns and no turnovers in the first two games of the season. The others — Patrick Mahomes in 2018 and Peyton Manning in 2013 — won the NFL MVP award that same year.
With at least two touchdowns and no turnovers against the Chargers on Sunday, Allen would join Mahomes as the only players with 11 or more touchdowns and no turnovers through three games. (Mahomes had 13 touchdowns and no turnovers through three games in 2018.)
And there’s more. Allen has had two straight games with four or more touchdowns and no interceptions. If he does it again on Sunday, he’ll tie five players for the longest streak in league history: Matthew Stafford in 2025, Allen in 2024, Lamar Jackson in 2019, Drew Brees in 2018, and Russell Wilson in 2015.
Finally, Allen has had two straight games with two rushing touchdowns. Only three players have done that in the first three games of the season: Priest Holmes in 2003, Stephen Davis in 1999, and Jim Brown in 1958.
Allen would trade it all for a 3-0 start, for the third straight season. And to extend Buffalo’s home record to 19-2 over the past 21 games.
The Bills have signed wide receiver Greg Dortch to the active roster from the practice squad, the team announced Friday.
In a corresponding move, the Bills placed defensive back Jordan Hancock on injured reserve.
Hancock missed Thursday and Friday’s practice due to a hamstring injury.
He played 13 defensive snaps and 42 on special teams in the first two games and totaled five tackles.
The Bills elevated Dortch for the first two games. He returned five punts for 46 yards (9.2 avg.) and five kicks for 133 (26.6 avg).
He has played four offensive snaps and 18 on special teams.
The Chargers may need to make a roster move to add a quarterback ahead of Sunday’s game against the Bills.
Backup quarterback Trey Lance was added to the team’s injury report on Friday and he is listed as questionable for this weekend. DJ Uiagalelei is on the practice squad and will need to be added to the roster if the team needs a different option behind Justin Herbert in Buffalo.
Safety Derwin James (finger) and wide receiver Ladd McConkey (rib) have no injury designations, but guard Kayode Awosika (fibula), tight end Charlie Kolar (forearm), defensive back Elijah Molden (hamstring), offensive lineman Trey Pipkins (knee), wide receiver Brenen Thompson (quad), and defensive lineman Dalvin Tomlinson (hamstring) have been ruled out.
Cornerback Rodney Shelley (hamstring) is listed as questionable.
A pair of Bills wide receivers will be listed as questionable for Sunday’s game against the Chargers.
Head coach Joe Brady said that DJ Moore and Keon Coleman will carry that tag into the weekend. Moore missed practice on Thursday with a shoulder injury, but returned for a limited practice Friday. Coleman missed two days due to an ankle injury before joining Moore as a limited participant to close out the week.
Defensive tackle Ed Oliver (hip) is also listed as questionable. He missed Buffalo’s Week 2 Thursday night win over the Lions after getting hurt in pregame warmups.
Defensive back Jordan Hancock (hamstring) and defensive tackle T.J. Sanders (illness) have both been ruled out.
A couple of key Chargers players were back to full practice participation on Thursday.
Safety Derwin James (rest, finger) did not practice on Wednesday and left tackle Rashawn Slater (groin) was a limited participant, so both are moving in the right direction ahead of Sunday’s game in Buffalo. James plans to play with a cast protecting his injury.
Linebacker Khalil Mack was also full after resting on Wednesday.
Guard Kayode Awosika (fibula), tight end Charlie Kolar (forearm), defensive back Elijah Molden (hamstring), offensive lineman Trey Pipkins (knee), cornerback Rodney Shelley (hamstring), wide receiver Brenen Thompson (quad), and defensive lineman Dalvin Tomlinson (hamstring) were all out of practice for the second day in a row.
Defensive back Deane Leonard (abdomen), wide receiver Ladd McConkey (rib), and guard Cole Strange (pectoral) were all full participants while linebacker Tuli Tuipulotu (hamstring) was a limited participant.
The Bills have a couple of injury concerns with two of their key receivers.
According to multiple reporters on the scene, neither DJ Moore nor Keon Coleman are practicing for Buffalo on Thursday.
Moore (shoulder) was officially a limited participant in Wednesday’s session. Coleman did not participate.
One of Buffalo’s key offseason acquisitions, Moore has five receptions for 100 yards with a touchdown so far this season.
Defensive tackle Ed Oliver (hip) is on the field going through individual drills after he did not participate on Wednesday.
Buffalo’s full Thursday injury report will be out later in the day.
Something has kept Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert from fulfilling a skillset that has had coach Jim Harbaugh proclaim that Herbert will be regarded as the best to ever play the game. The disconnect between talent and production has become more pronounced in the early days of the 2026 season, given that the Chargers have lost a pair of home games to two of the worst teams in the league in 2025.
On Wednesday, Herbert’s midweek press conference included questions about a potential increase in vocal leadership.
In response to the first — regarding the possible need for vocal leadership in advance of the Week 3 game at Buffalo — Herbert bristled.
“I think that would imply that there’s no need for vocal leadership before this week,” Herbert said, via Kris Rhim of ESPN. “I think every week is a super important week for us and it’s a great opportunity for us to go play football again and correct the things that we made mistakes on last week and keep pushing forward.”
Herbert interrupted the second question on the subject.
“I don’t think there’s a lack of vocal leadership at all,” Herbert said. “So, I’m going to stop you right there and say that it’s very present. I don’t think anyone is panicked or worried because that’s not going to be the sentiment. It’s moving on to the next play and understand that we’re close, we’ve made mistakes, how do we fix it?”
Herbert reiterated his expectation that there will be no panic, as the team stares at the possibility that 0-2 will become 0-3 and, based on the upcoming schedule (at Seahawks, Broncos, at Chiefs), possibly 0-6 at the bye.
Regardless, something is missing. And it it’s not an issue of Herbert’s talent, it’s something else. Perhaps the players around him aren’t good enough. Perhaps he’s not doing enough to get more out of them. Perhaps the odd-couple pairing of Harbaugh and offensive coordinator Mike McDaniel is a work in progress that has yet to make enough progress.
A win will change everything. But the team looked flat and overmatched in two straight games the Chargers should have won. Now comes the gauntlet, and there’s a chance the hole will get deeper and deeper with each passing week.
