EL SEGUNDO — Wide receiver Ladd McConkey didn’t practice Wednesday when the Chargers returned to their practice field, after he suffered a rib injury from a jarring hit from Arizona Cardinals linebacker Mack Wilson Sr. near the end of the third quarter of Sunday’s 26-14 loss.
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Whether McConkey can practice Thursday or Friday or play against the Las Vegas Raiders on Sunday was still to be determined, according to Chargers coach Jim Harbaugh. Additionally, Derius Davis sustained a calf injury in the fourth quarter on Sunday.
Davis was listed as a full participant in practice on Wednesday, however.
McConkey worked out on the sideline with an athletic trainer.
The Chargers placed KeAndre Lambert-Smith on injured reserve on Tuesday, after he injured a hamstring in Sunday’s loss to the Cardinals. Lambert-Smith must sit out for at least the next four games, starting with Sunday’s game. He isn’t eligible to play again until an Oct. 18 game against the Kansas City Chiefs.
Suddenly, and unexpectedly, the Chargers are in dire need of depth and experience at wide receiver, a position of great importance if their offense is to rebound against the Raiders after offensive coordinator Mike McDaniel’s debut wasn’t all that it was expected to be against the Cardinals.
McConkey caught a team-leading five passes for 82 yards and one touchdown, a key target for quarterback Justin Herbert through the better part of three quarters. But when McConkey was sidelined for the fourth quarter, the Chargers’ offense went ker-plunk when it mattered most.
The Chargers trailed 16-14 after McConkey caught an 8-yard touchdown pass from Herbert with 6:03 remaining in the third quarter. But with McConkey sidelined, the Chargers’ fourth-quarter possessions ended with a blocked punt, an interception and two turnovers on downs.
One critical fourth-down possession featured false starts on consecutive snaps, followed by a holding penalty, followed three snaps later by an offensive pass interference penalty. The Cardinals declined the last penalty and took over on downs with 4:09 left in the game.
Overall, the Chargers were penalized seven times for 64 yards in their season opener.
Herbert and McConkey formed a strong connection in the first half, with Herbert completing seven of his nine passes for 118 yards and McConkey catching four passes on five targets for 74 yards. They linked up three times for 60 yards on an opening scoring drive in the first quarter.
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Herbert completed 10 of 18 passes for 91 yards in the second half, despite having seven possessions in the second half after only three in the first half. His overall passer rating was a lackluster 83.7 by game’s end. It was 118.8 after the first quarter, with the Chargers trailing only 10-7.
Clearly, Herbert missed his favorite target in the second half.
“I know he’s working diligently through his rehab,” Harbaugh said of McConkey. “We’ll see how the week unfolds.”
Asked about providing enough top-tier talent around Herbert in order to get the best out of him, Harbaugh said simply, “Love Justin. Sky’s the limit. Like us all, we’re attacking. It feels like you’re in a fight. Like any football fight, your mind says, ‘What are you going to do about it?’”
Of his play against the Cardinals, Harbaugh said of Herbert, “I thought he played as well as he could, as well as a quarterback could in the situations he had.”
In order to add depth to their bruised and battered wide receiver corps, the Chargers signed wide receiver Marquez Valdes-Scantling to the practice squad. Valdes-Scantling is an eight-year NFL veteran who split last season with the Pittsburgh Steelers and San Francisco 49ers.
The Chargers also signed Gary Jennings to the active roster Tuesday a corresponding move after placing Lambert-Smith on IR. Jennings was the Seattle Seahawks’ fourth-round pick in the 2019 draft, but he has played only one regular-season game, while with the Miami Dolphins in ’19.
Brenen Thompson, the Chargers’ fourth-round draft pick from Mississippi State in April, could be pressed into an enhanced role if McConkey is sidelined for Sunday’s game. Thompson had an impressive training camp, displaying the speed that attracted the Chargers to him in the draft.
“There’s an opportunity, no doubt,” Harbaugh said of Thompson, who ran a 4.26-second 40-yard dash time at the NFL draft combine. “Like so much of his mental, his physical, his approach, the way he attacks things, the way his mind works. It’s all plus-plus.
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“Opportunity needs opportunity and opportunity awaits.”