Rashawn Slater Season Ending Injury - Who is Up?

[Florida fan]

No but appeals to authority is also nonsense.
depending on HOW these injuries happened, there could be merit to this, I just hope Jim and company look into each of his injuries closely to see if there are any reasonable preventative measures that can be taken.
Bill Belichick built a dynasty on understanding his players' athletic limitations and asking them ONLY to do what was in their range, and doing it perfectly. Asking them to play just outside of their athletic ability can lead to injury.
in the case of anyone who has an injury history, you have to look into HOW or WHY this is happening.
Sometimes it's just plain bad luck.
But sometimes, they're playing beyond their physical limitations.
Jason Verrett is a good example.

please stop, Belicheach had Tom Brady and the best slot and TE for years. You couldn’t blitz Brady because of his quick release….which made OL look invincible

[Critty]

Trey, Bradley, and Zion are going to surprise you. 2nd year in the system and have no doubt….all willing to go thru walls for their teammates.

Yes, Rashawn was the best of the group but they will use this as motivation.

Bookmark this.

I favor this assessment. The more you work in a system in any field of life, the more things slow down and become second nature. When you make a switch, even in a field you are familiar with, then you have to get used to your new work family dynamics. I like that Keenan Allen is back, he has a connection with Justin. It's unfortunate Slater had the injury, but no team avoids injury to staters in the NFL. A super positive sign in pre season hall of fame game was the lack of mistakes Chargers made while Lions made quite a few costly ones. Often, it's the team that plays with fewest errors that gets the Win. Playoffs is extremely likely for this team. The Lombardi Trophy is still the realistic goal for these Jim Harbaugh 2025 Chargers.

[jaguarmanftype]

What is with this organization and paying linemen who are out of the league almost as soon as they sign big contracts? We had this with McNeill, Gaither, Bulaga, Barksdale, Pouncey, Linsley, etc. Bruh.

[jaguarmanftype]

Anyone know if Slater retires, if the Bolts get all that $$$ back ? Use it for a less injury prone OT who is a stud!

I think the injury guarantees were essentially his total guaranteed money, so no. This should have been addressed in the prior CBA, with a set percentage salary cap of total guarantees for injuries. There is absolutely no reason to pay full guarantees for inactive players.

As these contracts keep ballooning upwards, at some point, there will be NFL franchises that will fall into bankruptcy because they afforded their injured players who may no longer even be on their rosters fully guaranteed contracts without a return on their investment.

[Boltjolt]

Worrying about who plays what next year seems like an unnecessary stretch.

Can we wait to see how the reconstituted 2025 OL actually plays this season?

Someone could surprise.

Yea, Alt handled RT just fine. Played LT a game as well last year . .....as a rookie mind you. He will be fine.

[Maniaque 6]

Kaltenberger or James at C
Salyer and Alt at T
SuperBowl here we go

[richpjr]

Kaltenberger or James at C
Salyer and Alt at T
SuperBowl here we go

Harbaug did make this point (from Popper's article about today's practice:

Harbaugh made sure to point out that “nothing is set in stone” on the offensive line.

[21&500]

Jason Verrett had a ton of injuries in college ... Rashawn Slater, no.

You talk about appeals to authority being nonsense, and then you bring Belichick into the conversation .... do you see the contradiction?

Yes but I also connected his authority to a specific strategy he used to argue that it was helpful.
you used AtoA in fallacy. Theres a difference. Admit it.
Even if I did work as a kinethiologist, I didn't base my original argument in that field, simply my own suspicion and wonder.
If you don't care about HOW injuries happen, fine, be satisfied with "injuries happen" but if there's any way this is preventable to any reasonable degree, I'm interested and happy to engage. Sorry if my personal wonder threatened any comforting football platitude.
not sorry for posting things you think are BS.
Have you ever boxed a taller opponent?
I used to be a good boxer, sucked at team sports but this was my jam. I was good but always struggled against taller opponents in part because I had to reach outside of my comfort zone and often got injured doing so.
When I saw Slater's film leading up to the draft, I noticed he was very effective but required much the same reaching. I didn't think much of it but now after a torn pec and now patella, am left wondering if he's not better suited inside.
and just to be generous, I thought Darrisaw was more physically efficient at playing LT, and yet he's been more injured than anyone. But again, it's about HOW these injuries are occurring that are relevant.

[DerwinBosa]

I don't know if anyone has posted this article, but I think these are the key points.

Slater will undergo surgery and be placed on injured reserve. He will miss the 2025 season. What awaits is a recovery time of 10 to 12 months, according to Dr. Carlos Uquillas, an orthopedic surgeon at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center and a team physician for the Los Angeles Angels.

“A lot of people do return from this injury,” Uquillas said. “Sometimes not at the same level.”

The Chargers are familiar with this injury. Cornerback J.C. Jackson tore his patellar tendon in Week 7 of 2022, eight months after he signed an $82.5 million free-agent contract with the team. Jackson suffered the injury in November. He was back for Week 1 of the 2023 season. Jackson played two games before he was traded to the New England Patriots. He has been out of the league since the end of the 2023 season.

According to Uquillas, though, the recovery for “speed players” like receivers, running backs and defensive backs tends to be “a little harder” compared to linemen.

“For linemen,” Uquillas said, “I think it’s potentially a little bit easier.”

Cleveland Browns tackle Jack Conklin, for instance, tore his patellar tendon in late November 2021. He returned in Week 3 of 2022 and played more than 900 snaps over 14 starts.

So there is some hope for 2026.

Later in the article:

Slater will have to dig more deeply than he ever has in the months ahead. The patellar tendon attaches the knee to the shin and, thus, the quad muscle to the shin. Without the tendon, Uquillas said, “you have no ability to extend your knee.”

Atrophy will occur without movement.

“It takes just a really long time to build the bulk and that strength back up,” Uquillas said. “Left tackles, their quads are massive. So to get back to that level takes a ton of time and effort.”


It will be interesting to see what happens after Joe Alt plays left tackle this season. Even if Slater is able to make a full recovery, he may have to switch positions if Alt has an All-Pro year on the left side. And I think Hortiz should be looking at the offensive tackles this college football season.

[jaguarmanftype]

Kaltenberger or James at C
Salyer and Alt at T
SuperBowl here we go

I'd love James at C. Kaltenberger is interesting too from an athletic perspective - technically, he could play guard or tackle with his size if he adds on some weight. His arms are a bit short though for a tackle.

[KrazyLegs]

please stop, Belicheach had Tom Brady and the best slot and TE for years. You couldn’t blitz Brady because of his quick release….which made OL look invincible

Eh, I think that's a bit of an oversimplifcation.

Sure, Brady was an all-time great. But it still starts up front. The Pats OL was well coached and fundamentally great. They also had some nice depth. Guys would get injured and they would plug in another piece and he would do the job.

There were no Storm Nortons.

And, remember, Brady did get injured when his OL betrayed him. He missed an entire season with an ACL injury.

[Xenos]

I favor this assessment. The more you work in a system in any field of life, the more things slow down and become second nature. When you make a switch, even in a field you are familiar with, then you have to get used to your new work family dynamics. I like that Keenan Allen is back, he has a connection with Justin. It's unfortunate Slater had the injury, but no team avoids injury to staters in the NFL. A super positive sign in pre season hall of fame game was the lack of mistakes Chargers made while Lions made quite a few costly ones. Often, it's the team that plays with fewest errors that gets the Win. Playoffs is extremely likely for this team. The Lombardi Trophy is still the realistic goal for these Jim Harbaugh 2025 Chargers.

My hope is that cross training Zion at Center will help with the interior pressure and stunts this season.