Slater Has Now Missed Half a Dozen Straight Practices. The Active Designation Is Starting to Look Like a Courtesy.

Yesterday I noted that Slater's active listing and his practice absence weren't adding up. Today the gap is wider. He has now missed half a dozen consecutive sessions, and the question has shifted from whether this is a minor camp maintenance situation to whether the Chargers are managing something more serious and simply haven't said so.

The depth chart behind him is Trevor Penning and Laekin Vakalahi. That's the reality if Slater misses time into the regular season, and it's worth sitting with. This offensive line was supposed to be a strength — Joe Alt is active and healthy, which matters — but Slater anchors the left side, and no amount of contingency planning fully covers that kind of absence. The Chargers added Trey Pipkins to the mix earlier in camp, which looked like routine roster depth at the time. It looks a little more purposeful now.

At some point the active designation stops being informative and starts being noise. Six straight missed practices is past the threshold where "day-to-day" framing holds up. I've been writing versions of this note since August 14th. The story hasn't changed; it's just gotten louder.