The Chargers are in a less-than-ideal spot heading into Week 5.
Los Angeles is set to host its AFC West rival, the Broncos, and they will be a depleted bunch, especially on the offensive line.
It's déjà vu for the Chargers in that department, as that unit was among the weakest on the team last season. Heading into Week 5, the story is the same. Los Angeles suffered multiple offensive-line injuries against the Seahawks.
Rashawn Slater suffered a high ankle sprain in Week 4 and is expected to miss multiple weeks and could be a candidate for injured reserve. Joe Alt suffered a neck injury in Week 4; he did not finish the game and is listed as day-to-day.
On top of that, guard Trevor Penning exited Week 4 with a concussion.
"Next man up. Putting the
plan together and treating it like it's a one-game season. That's what we're doing," Harbaugh said.
There is a strong chance the Chargers could be rolling out with three new offensive linemen in Week 5, similar to the fourth quarter of the Seattle game.
If Penning, Alt and Slater were to all miss, the Chargers will likely turn to Logan Taylor at left tackle, Jake Slaughter at left guard, Jacob Spomer at center, Cole Strange at right guard and Travis Burke at right tackle.
That offensive line above, outside of Strange, is all rookies. Not an ideal situation against the Broncos, even though their pass rush has had a slow start to the season.
As things stand, nothing is set in stone for the Chargers regarding the five offensive linemen who will start in Sunday's contest.
"I don't know if it will be the exact way the game ended, but that's the group that we'll be talking about working with," Harbaugh said.
"We'll work on that during the week. At one point, we had four of the rookie linemen in there, and they acquitted themselves well."
This article originally appeared on Chargers Wire: Where the Chargers' offensive line stands heading into Week 5
