Chargers center Mike Pouncey missed practice this week with a hip injury, and he’s likely to also miss the season opener against the Bengals, Adam Schefter of ESPN.com tweets. The severity of the injury isn’t immediately clear, but history suggests that this could be another long recovery for the four-time Pro Bowler. 
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Pouncey’s hip limited him to just five games in 2016 and clearly hindered him in 2017, his final year with the Dolphins. In 2018, his first year with the Chargers, he was back to his usual self. Starting in all 16 games, Pouncey was named to his first career Pro Bowl. Then, last year, a neck injury shut him down after just five games.
At one point, doctors advised Pouncey that he would eventually need hip replacement surgery. Hopefully, that day never comes. At minimum, Pouncey is hoping to stave off anything major until later in life. Last year, Pouncey re-upped with the Chargers on a one-year, $9MM extension. After 2020, he’ll be out of contract and eligible for free agency.
The Bolts are already without star safety Derwin James, so they’ll have to get by without some of their best talent on both sides of the ball. After passing on interior offensive lineman in this year’s draft, the Chargers may look to slide Dan Feeney from left guard to center.
Gravity pulls down, the sun rises in the east, and the Chargers have injury trouble on the offensive line.
Wut? A Charger Oline man is injured..? This has to be a first?!
Which team has less fans LA Chargers or the Jags?
That’s a huge hit for the Chargers. It may not seem like an absence against an inexperienced squad such as Cincinnati would be very significant, but remember that the Bengals happen to have a formidable duo on the interior in Atkins and Reader.
Fortunately, the Chargers have a scrambler in Tyrod and Ekeler wasn’t much of a between the tackles rusher anyway. However, it’s just another devastating blow to an otherwise well-balanced team (beyond quarterback)
Tyrod would rather not be chased by interior penetration, but the unfortunate fact for the Chargers is that the likes of Sam Tevi and Trey Pipkens are the answers at left tackle. The most important position on any line is unfortunately (there’s that word again) the weakest part of L.A.’s unit.
The second unfortunate fact is that, despite solid acquisitions on the right side of the line in Bulaga and Turner, there are injury histories there. Both Turner and Bulaga have missed games recently, and Forrest Lamp as a quality backup has had a career defined by injury. The Chargers made a conscious effort to upgrade their line and will continue to do so in the future, but as of now, chances are high that they need to dig into their depth over the course of the season.
Chargers being Chargers…. the new Clippers with decades of mediocrity ahead of them