The Chargers did not place running back Austin Ekeler on injured reserve, leading to the expectation that he will return soon. A trip to IR would have cost him at least four weeks.
Ekeler will miss his second game in a row this week, and coach Brandon Staley said it doesn’t look like Sunday’s game will be the last one Ekeler will miss before returning from his ankle injury.
“He worked really hard to get back,” Staley said. “We’ll see how it goes in the next few weeks.”
Ekeler was doubtful for Week 2 before being ruled out. His initial coaching for Week 3 is out.
Staley was asked if this was an implication of a step back for Ekeler in his rehab.
“There are no implications,” Staley said.
Ekeler, 28, injured his ankle in the fourth quarter of the season opener against Miami. He rushed for 117 yards and a touchdown on 16 carries.
During his “Ekeler’s Edge” podcast on the Yahoo Fantasy Football Show earlier this week, Ekeler described his injury as a “day-to-day, week-to-week situation.”
“Ankle facing. I’m there faced the ankles before,” said Ekeler. “You’ve just got to get it to a point where you feel good, where it’s taped and you can feel like, ‘If I’m fixed, it won’t add up again and I’ll be back to where I was before. , where I could hardly walk on it.’
“It’s not something that’s going to be like, ‘Ah, he’s out for a few months’ kind of thing. It’s a day-to-day, week-to-week situation. I like the progress that I’ve made. done so far. Hope to be back soon.”
Ekeler missed just nine games in his first six seasons and hasn’t missed a game since 2021 when he injured his ankle for one game.