Chargers Clips
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.
Last Thursday night, Bills receiver DJ Moore left the home opener against the Lions with a shoulder injury. On the first full day of practice in advance of the Week 3 home game against the Chargers, Moore made a move toward returning.
Moore was listed as practicing on a limited basis. Given the very broad nature of the “limited” category, it’s hard to know whether that means he’ll be good to go in four days.
Also injured from the Buffalo receiving corps is Keon Coleman. He did not practice on Wednesday, with an ankle injury.
The Bills also were missing a pair of starting defensive tackles. Ed Oliver didn’t practice due to the hip injury that made him a late scratch on Thursday night. Defensive tackle T.J. Sanders underwent an appendectomy on Tuesday night.
In Week 1, Moore had five catches for 100 yards and a touchdown in the win over the Texans. He had no catches in his 23 snaps from Week 2. Coleman had one catch for one yard in Week 1, and six catches for 63 yards on six targets in Week 2.
Wide receiver Marquez Valdes-Scantling is moving from the practice squad to the active roster in Los Angeles.
Chargers head coach Jim Harbaugh announced the change in status during his Wednesday press conference. Valdes-Scantling signed with the Chargers last week.
Valdes-Scantling was in camp with the Cowboys, but was released as part of their final cuts in August. He had 10 catches for 80 yards and a touchdown in five games for the Steelers last season.
The veteran wideout has also played for the 49ers, Saints, Bills, Chiefs and Packers.
Harbaugh also confirmed that tight end David Njoku will go on injured reserve with a fibula injury. It was initially thought tight end Charlie Kolar would go on injured reserve as well, but Harbaugh said that will not be the case. Kolar had surgery on his forearm Monday.
Bills defensive tackle T.J. Sanders has had bad luck to start this season.
He’s had a knee injury and an illness that kept him out the first two weeks. Coach Joe Brady announced Wednesday that Sanders is now out with an appendectomy he had Tuesday night.
It is unclear when Sanders might return.
The 2025 second-round pick played 12 games last season, totaling 16 tackles, a sack and a pass defensed.
The Bills signed defensive lineman Austin Johnson to the practice squad on Wednesday. Johnson played for the Bills in 2024.
The Chargers have added a player to their injury-depleted tight end room.
Tight end Hayden Rucci was signed off the Jaguars’ practice squad today, the Chargers announced.
Until Rucci arrived, the Chargers had only one healthy tight end, Oronde Gadsden. Two Chargers tight ends were injured on Sunday and placed on injured reserve on Monday, David Njoku and Charlie Kolar. Another tight end, Scott Matlock, has been on injured reserve since the start of the season.
Rucci went undrafted out of Wisconsin in 2024 and has spent time with the Dolphins, Lions, 49ers and Jaguars.
To make room for Rucci on the 53-player roster, the Chargers cut wide receiver Gary Jennings.
Jim Harbaugh’s not in Ann Arbor anymore.
Harbaugh’s third year with the Chargers has started as badly as it possibly could have, with two home losses against a pair of the worst teams in the league last season.
In both games, against the Cardinals and the Raiders, the Chargers ended up on the wrong side of a 26-14 score.
Let’s put it in perspective. Per NBC Sports research, only two teams (the 1987 Colts and the 2003 Eagles) rebounded from 0-2 starts with both losses at home to make the playoffs. (In all, teams have begun the year with two straight home games 209 times.)
Via OptaStats, the Chargers are the second team in NFL history to lose back-to-back games at home against teams that had a winning percentage below .200 the prior year. It last happened exactly 100 years ago, to the 1926 Racine Tornadoes. The Tornadoes played only one more game before folding.
The Chargers’ fans may be folding the tents on making it to the playoffs in 2026. A gauntlet is coming for Harbaugh and company: at Bills, at Seahawks, Broncos, at Chiefs. Then comes a bye week.
If they lose the next four and go into the two-week break at 0-6, who knows what will happen next?
That said, the NFL remains an “any given Sunday” league. The Chargers have found that out the hard way, through the first two Sundays of the season. Still, it won’t be easy to get a win in any of the next four games.
It won’t be easy beyond that, either. They still face the Rams, Texans, Ravens, 49ers, Chiefs (again), and Broncos (again). Barring a significant turnaround, another “mutual parting” could be looming for Harbaugh and his current NFL employer.
