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.
Chargers Clips
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.
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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.
The Raiders have gotten a couple of huge catches out of Tre Tucker and now have a 10-7 lead going into halftime.
After Las Vegas took a 7-0 lead on a 40-yard touchdown from Kirk Cousins to Tucker, the veteran quarterback hit the wideout again late in the first half for a 42-yard gain into Los Angeles territory.
Then kicker Matt Gay connected on a career-long 59-yard field goal to give the Raiders a three-point advantage at the break.
Cousins is 9-of-13 passing for 158 yards with a touchdown and an interception. Tucker has 110 yards on four receptions with his touchdown.
Ashton Jeanty has just 22 yards on 10 carries in the first 30 minutes.
Las Vegas’ offense has been limited to just six first downs and is 1-of-5 on first down.
The Chargers have 11 first downs, 173 total yards, and are 3-of-8 on third down. Quarterback Justin Herbert is 7-of-15 for 79 yards with an interception — a pass that went off his receiver’s hands and into the arms of a waiting defender.
Omarion Hampton scored the Chargers’ touchdown with 5:26 left in the second quarter, capping a run-heavy 10-play, 69-yard drive.
He has 70 yards on 15 carries so far.
The Raiders will receive the second-half kickoff.
Kirk Cousins has unleashed a deep ball.
The veteran Raiders QB hit a wide-open Tre Tucker in the end zone for a 40-yard touchdown, giving Las Vegas a 7-0 lead over the Chargers in the second quarter.
Cousins has taken some heat over the last week for not connecting on downfield passes in last week’s victory over Miami. But on Sunday, Cousins has started well — going 6-of-8 for 101 yards with a touchdown and an interception so far.
Tucker has three receptions for 68 yards with a TD.
On the other side, the Chargers have just 55 yards and two punts, along with a missed field goal and an interception in their first four drives.
Chargers tight end David Njoku is likely out for the rest of Sunday’s game against the Raiders.
Njoku was carted off the field after suffering a knee injury early in the second quarter.
The Chargers announced he is officially questionable to return.
The veteran tight end went down after a second-down run.
Njoku caught five passes for 58 yards in last week’s loss to Arizona.
The Chargers are also dealing with an injury to veteran safety Derwin James, who is questionable to return with a hand issue.
It’s good news for the Chargers and bad news for the Raiders with the release of inactives before the two teams play on Sunday afternoon.
Los Angeles receiver Ladd McConkey is active after being listed as questionable with a rib injury.
But Las Vegas’ Brock Bowers (knee) is inactive.
McConkey was limited on Friday after he didn’t practice on Wednesday or Thursday. Bowers followed the same path, but coming off of knee surgery, the Raiders have elected to keep him sidelined for at least another week.
The Chargers’ inactives are safety Elijah Molden, cornerback Deane Leonard, offensive lineman Trey Pipkins, cornerback Isas Waxter, offensive lineman Logan Taylor, and offensive lineman Alex Harkey.
Las Vegas’ inactives are Bowers, cornerback Darien Porter, quarterback Aidan O’Connell, safety Tristin McCollum, safety Dalton Johnson, guard Bryce Cabeldue, and defensive tackle JJ Pegues.
Last Sunday, Jay Glazer of Fox Sports reported that the Seahawks were seeking up to four second opinions regarding quarterback Sam Darnold’s injured glute tendon.
Those second opinions came back better than expected.
Jay Glazer of Fox Sports reports that the various medical opinions were encouraging, and that Darnold is expected to return sooner than the Seahawks had initially believed. Darnold is not as injured as the Seahawks had initially feared.
Last Sunday, it was believed he could miss 4-6 weeks. Now, he possibly will return for Week 3 at Washington and, if not then, Week 4 vs. the Chargers.
For today at least, it’s Drew Lock time in Arizona, as the Seahawks try to extend their winning streak over the Cardinals to ten, and a franchise-record overall winning streak to twelve.
Seahawks quarterback Sam Darnold left the Week 1 game against the Patriots after five snaps, with a hip injury becoming a glute tendon injury for which the team reportedly sought multiple second opinions.
Amid initial concerns that Darnold could miss 4-6 weeks, he could be back three weeks after the injury happened.
Ian Rapoport of NFL Network reports that Darnold is “recovering faster than anyone had anticipated,” and that he could return to practice “in some form or fashion” this week. That doesn’t mean he’ll be ready to go against the Commanders in Week 3. He could be back in Week 4 vs. the Chargers.
A significant game is looming in Week 5. That’s when the 49ers, who beat the Seahawks in Seattle last season, return to town for what will be a potentially massive NFC West showdown.
Today against the Cardinals, it’s Drew Lock. The Seahawks have beaten Arizona nine straight times, tying the longest active streak by any franchise against another team. Via NBC Sports research, the Chiefs have also beaten the Commanders nine straight times.
More importantly, the Seahawks have now won 11 in a row. That equals the longest streak in franchise history. Which means, obviously, that a win today would give Seattle its first-ever 12-game win streak.
