{"id":258101,"date":"2025-08-03T08:36:10","date_gmt":"2025-08-03T08:36:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/258101\/"},"modified":"2025-08-03T08:36:10","modified_gmt":"2025-08-03T08:36:10","slug":"ladd-mcconkey-mekhi-becton-get-injury-updates-amid-practice-absences","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/258101\/","title":{"rendered":"Ladd McConkey, Mekhi Becton get injury updates amid practice absences"},"content":{"rendered":"

Los Angeles Chargers<\/a> fans received a brief scare on Tuesday as two key offensive players\u2014wide receiver Ladd McConkey<\/a> and right guard Mekhi Becton<\/a>\u2014were both held out of practice. But according to offensive coordinator Greg Roman, there\u2019s no need to panic<\/a> just yet.<\/p>\n

Both McConkey and Becton are dealing with what Roman described as \u201cextremely minor\u201d injuries, per The Athletic\u2019s Daniel Popper. Head coach Jim Harbaugh echoed those sentiments, saying McConkey is \u201cworking through something minor\u201d and reiterating the team\u2019s long-term outlook with its young stars.<\/p>\n

McConkey’s absence naturally raised some eyebrows considering his breakout rookie campaign, which set a new standard for first-year wideouts in Chargers history.<\/a> The former Georgia Bulldog racked up 82 catches for 1,149 yards and became Justin Herbert\u2019s go-to target throughout the 2024 season. He followed that up with a record-setting 197-yard performance in the playoffs against Houston\u2014an NFL rookie postseason record. His second-year ceiling? High. Very high.<\/p>\n

Chargers missing key players in early August\"LosKirby Lee-Imagn Images<\/p>\n

\u201cI think he has the ceiling of being a top-10 receiver in the NFL,\u201d said ESPN analyst Mina Kimes. \u201cHe\u2019s a true three-level threat\u2026 the offense can flow through him. The sky is the limit for Ladd McConkey.\u201d<\/p>\n

That\u2019s exactly why his status\u2014even with a minor injury\u2014was enough to turn heads ahead of Thursday\u2019s Hall of Fame Game. McConkey, Becton, and most of the Chargers\u2019 starters are not expected to play against the Detroit Lions, and that was likely the plan regardless of health status. Still, Harbaugh and company are being cautious as they gear up for the team\u2019s September 5 regular season opener against the Kansas City Chiefs in Brazil.<\/p>\n

On the offensive line, Becton is expected to play a critical role this year anchoring the right side after signing with Los Angeles in the offseason. Like McConkey, he\u2019s missing valuable reps this week, but the coaching staff doesn\u2019t appear overly concerned about his availability for Week 1.<\/p>\n

As for the depth behind McConkey, the Chargers added rookies Tre Harris and KeAndre Lambert-Smith this offseason\u2014two names that could see extended action during the preseason. But even with those additions, there\u2019s no question who the WR1 is in L.A.<\/p>\n

The focus now is simply getting McConkey and Becton back to full strength. While the absences this week may have caused a ripple of concern, the Chargers appear confident that both players will be good to go when it matters most. For now, it\u2019s better to play it safe than push two cornerstones of the offense too hard in early August.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Los Angeles Chargers fans received a brief scare on Tuesday as two key offensive players\u2014wide receiver Ladd McConkey…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":258102,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2064],"tags":[241,7,470,1014,262,2444,2443,4388,6,30382,22213,10154],"class_list":{"0":"post-258101","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-los-angeles-chargers","8":"tag-chargers","9":"tag-football","10":"tag-ladd-mcconkey","11":"tag-los-angeles","12":"tag-los-angeles-chargers","13":"tag-losangeles","14":"tag-losangeleschargers","15":"tag-mekhi-becton","16":"tag-nfl","17":"tag-nfl-injury","18":"tag-nfl-stories","19":"tag-nfl-training-camp"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/114963925430067268","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/258101","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=258101"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/258101\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/258102"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=258101"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=258101"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=258101"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}