Rashawn Slater suffers high ankle sprain as Chargers lose star left tackle again

The Los Angeles Chargers’ offensive line has absorbed another major blow. Pro Bowl left tackle Rashawn Slater has been diagnosed with a high ankle sprain following Sunday’s game in Seattle, according to NFL.com. Slater was seen leaving the stadium on crutches, per ESPN, and an injured reserve stint now looms as the team prepares to be without its franchise blindside protector once again.

The injury comes only four games into what was supposed to be Slater’s comeback season. He missed all of last year with a torn patellar tendon and was sidelined for most of the 2022 campaign by a torn biceps tendon. For a Chargers team that has stumbled to an 0-4 start, losing its most accomplished lineman further complicates efforts to stabilize the offense.

Chargers down both starting tackles after Alt’s neck injury

High ankle sprains routinely cost players multiple games and can alter an entire season, a reality the Chargers know well from Joe Alt’s experience. The 2024 fifth overall pick went down with a high ankle sprain last year, aggravated the injury after returning, and ultimately required surgery that ended his season in November after 11 missed games.

On Sunday in Seattle, Los Angeles finished without either starting tackle. Alt exited with a neck injury, forcing the Chargers to turn to depth options on both edges. Travis Burke stepped in at right tackle, and the club also has former first-rounder Trevor Penning on a one-year, $3.5MM deal. Penning did not win a starting job in the team’s guard competition and has struggled to secure a regular role in the NFL, but he brings previous starting experience at both left and right tackle from his time with the New Orleans Saints.

Big-money extension under pressure after repeated setbacks

Slater’s latest setback arrives a little more than a year after he landed a lucrative extension from the Chargers. In July 2025, Los Angeles signed him to a four-year, $118MM deal that set a then-record for tackles. Just days later, he suffered the season-ending knee injury that wiped out his 2025 campaign.

Now 27, Slater has a fully guaranteed salary for 2027, but his contract includes no void years and has not been reworked, with no guarantees beyond that season. That structure heightens the importance of how he returns from this high ankle sprain in the long term. In the short term, the Chargers must once again find a way to protect Justin Herbert with backup tackles on both sides, a scenario that contributed to last year’s pass-protection issues and a lopsided playoff loss in New England.