Whatever Russell Okung is dealing with, it’s fair to say that it’s not too minor. Word surfaced earlier this week that the Chargers left tackle is dealing with a mysterious injury, and we still don’t know what it is yet.
That being said it’s safe to assume it’s something significant, as Eric D. Williams of ESPN.com reports the Chargers don’t know if he’ll be ready for training camp next month (Twitter link). The Chargers have had some tough injury luck in recent years, so hopefully Okung doesn’t have to miss any regular season action.
Ever since signing a four-year, $53MM deal with the Chargers in March of 2017, Okung has been one of the offensive line’s few consistent pieces. He’s started 15 games each of the past two seasons, and it would be a massive blow if Los Angeles had to go any time without him. As of right now right tackle Sam Tevi is filling in for him in practice, while Trenton Scott has been playing right tackle.
Scott is a second-year UDFA who played sparingly as a rookie, so ideally the Chargers won’t have to count on him in 2019. It’s rare for a player to be able to keep an injury under wraps this long without word leaking out, and we should know a lot more soon. The folks over at Pro Football Focus gave Okung a 78.4 grade last year, ranking him as the 11th-best tackle in the league.
Why are they being so discreet about this
If I were a conspiracy nut I would predict the Chargers and Redskins are about to exchange LTs.