Rashawn Slater Limps Out of Chargers Practice — Herbert Unbothered

The Chargers got a scare Tuesday when left tackle Rashawn Slater walked off the field with an apparent injury and didn't return. He spent a short stretch in the medical tent, then came back out to watch the rest of the session from the sideline. Trey Pipkins and Branson Taylor split the reps at left tackle in his absence.

That's the kind of headline that makes Chargers fans hold their breath, because Slater is still working back from a torn patellar tendon suffered in last summer's training camp — an injury that cost him the entire 2025 season. The No. 13 overall pick from the 2021 draft signed a four-year extension with the team right before that injury, so there's real money and real protection riding on his knee.

The mood afterward, though, was closer to a shrug than a crisis. Justin Herbert said Slater told him he wanted to stay out on the field, and the quarterback read that as a good sign rather than a red flag. Head coach Jim Harbaugh spoke before practice, so he didn't address the exit directly.

Why Herbert Owners Should Care

Slater's health is a proxy for Herbert's clean pockets. Herbert is our No. 18 player overall and QB8, coming off a 2025 line of 3,727 passing yards, 26 touchdowns and — remarkably — zero interceptions across 16 games, good for 313 PPR points. That kind of turnover-free efficiency doesn't happen behind a leaky line, and Slater is the blindside anchor.

His recent form is a mild concern independent of this news: over his last five games in 2025, Herbert averaged three fantasy points below his season mark. A shaky offensive line only widens that downside, which is why a healthy Slater matters to anyone drafting Herbert as a mid-QB1 or high-end QB2.

For now, this is a monitor-don't-move situation. Slater watching practice rather than getting carted off, plus Herbert's unbothered tone, suggests this is precautionary until we hear otherwise. Keep Herbert exactly where he is in your rankings, but flag Slater's next injury update as the real domino — if the knee lands him on a snap count or worse, Herbert's floor takes the hit.