Slater Misses a Third Straight Practice, and the Chargers' Offensive Line Is Unsettled Again

Three days ago I wrote that both starting tackles being active was the good news. It still was, then. Rashawn Slater had returned to the roster on August 1st alongside Joe Alt, and the relief was real — the Chargers had spent a chunk of mid-July with both tackles in questionable status, and clearing that uncertainty felt like the offseason doing what it was supposed to do. Then Slater stopped practicing, and as of Monday he's missed three consecutive days.

No diagnosis has been reported. What's grounded is the absence itself, and three straight days of it in training camp is not a maintenance day. The team added Trey Pipkins at left guard before camp opened, which at the time read as routine depth management. It reads a little differently now.

The broader problem is that this offense runs through Herbert, and Herbert runs best when the pocket holds. The Chargers already know what it looks like when it doesn't — last season's late collapse had multiple causes, but protection was never a strength you could take for granted. Slater is the left tackle. That's Herbert's blind side.

Nothing here is confirmed as serious yet. But the Chargers have been in this exact spot — cautious optimism on the line, then a new wrinkle — often enough this offseason that the pattern itself is worth noting.