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.
Chargers Clips
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.
Any hopes that the Chargers’ loss to the Cardinals was just a Week 1 aberration were dashed at SoFi Stadium on Sunday.
The Raiders scored the final 16 points of the game to take a 26-14 win over their division rivals and move to 2-0 on the season. The Chargers are 0-2 after two games many pegged as easy wins for the team heading into the season.
Both sides of the ball have contributed to both of the losses and safety Derwin James said the first step to turning things around is being honest about just how bad the first two weeks have gone.
“We got to look each other in the eye, man, and just tell the truth and just get better,” James said in the locker room. “Because right now that s—t just looks trash. . . . I’m angry, but being angry don’t fix anything. Being angry don’t fix the problem that we have. We have to get it fixed. I feel like we’re a couple of plays away. It ain’t like we’re getting blown out. But we have to win these games, there’s no reason we’re going out there playing like that.”
The Cardinals also beat the Chargers 26-14 and it’s difficult to make the argument that it’s just a couple of plays deciding things when you’re losing by double digits at home. Whatever the case, the Chargers don’t have much time to make the necessary connections. They are in Buffalo and Seattle the next two weeks and losses in those games will have them looking at a very long and very disappointing season in Southern California.
You like that?
Raiders fans all over might be chanting Kirk Cousins’ unofficial slogan for at least the next week after the quarterback threw for three more touchdowns, powering Las Vegas to a 26-14 victory to begin the season 2-0.
The Raiders had not started the season with two consecutive wins since 2021.
Las Vegas played solid defense against Los Angeles, picking up some timely takeaways. Omarion Hampton had another game-changing fumble, coughing the ball up on a fourth-quarter run up the middle with the Chargers down by three.
The Raiders scored a couple of plays later with Cousins’ third touchdown pass, going up by 10 with 2:59 on the clock.
After Justin Herbert’s second interception of the game, Joe Alt closed what was a particularly bad day with a holding penalty in the end zone for a safety to close out the scoring.
Alt had previously been flagged for three false start penalties, despite the Chargers playing at home.
Herbert finished the contest 15-of-27 for 192 yards with a touchdown and two interceptions. He also had three of the Chargers’ six fumbles on the day, though the team did not lose possession on any of them.
Hampton had 94 yards on 23 carries with a touchdown.
But on the other side, Cousins was 19-of-29 for 253 yards with three touchdowns and an interception. Tre Tucker was his top target, catching five passes for 119 yards. Two of Tucker’s catches went for at least 40 yards, including a long touchdown in the first quarter to open the scoring.
Cousins is now just the second quarterback in franchise history to have at least three touchdown passes in each of the club’s first two games, joining Ken Stabler from 1976.
Kubiak has become the fourth coach in franchise history to win each of his first two games, joining Al Davis, John Madden, and Bill Callahan.
At 2-0, the Raiders will again be on the road in Week 3 as they play the Saints in New Orleans.
The schedule doesn’t get easier for the 0-2 Chargers, as they’ll be on the road to face the Bills in Week 3.
