It’s still not great but for the first time in a long time the Chargers injury situation is at least encouraging. Kind of.
The Bolts will be missing a few starters on Monday Night Football against the Steelers. Left guard Orlando Franklin (ankle), wide receiver Stevie Johnson (hamstring), cornerback Craig Mager (hamstring) and linebacker Tourek Williams (foot) are all out. Left tackle King Dunlap is doubtful with a concussion so it’s unlikely he’ll be able to play.
Then we have a really long list of guys who are a 50-50 shot to be available for the game:
- Safety Jahleel Addae (ankle)
- Cornerback Brandon Flowers (concussion)
- Wide receiver Malcom Floyd (concussion)
- Right guard D.J. Fluker (ankle)
- Kick returner Jacoby Jones (ankle)
- Cornerback Jason Verrett (foot)
- Center Chris Watt (groin)
The tough part is every single one of those guys is a starter. Verrett and Addae were able to practice in full on Friday so they could be ready to go. Fluker has been questionable for the last couple of weeks and started so odds are he’ll be active. Flowers and Floyd are complete question marks because of the unpredictable nature of concussions. Jones finally returned to practice on Friday but has been limited the last two days so he’s probably not ready to go yet. Watt was limited all week and is another “your guess is as good as mine.”
Offensive lineman Chris Hairston, who has played guard but last week started at left tackle and played well, is probable with an ankle injury.
The Chargers could conceivably enter the game with only two healthy wide receivers in Keenan Allen and Dontrelle Inman. The good news is they get Antonio Gates back and fellow tight end Ladarius Green has the speed to split wide and run those routes if necessary.
The Steelers will only have two players out but they are arguably in a worse spot than the Bolts because one of those guys is quarterback Ben Roethlisberger. He’s going to miss a bunch of time with a knee injury so Pittsburgh has handed the keys to the offense over to Mike Vick. While he’s still a dangerous playmaker he’s nowhere near the kind of headache he was earlier in his career.
