Chargers OTA observations: No Rashawn Slater; CB competition heats up

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EL SEGUNDO, Calif. — The Los Angeles Chargers held their opening organized team activities (OTAs) Tuesday at the team facility.

The Chargers are scheduled for two more OTAs this week, one Wednesday and one Friday. They are scheduled for three more the following week, June 3-5. The next week, the Chargers are scheduled for their three-day minicamp from June 10-12. The Chargers will then hold three more OTAs the week after minicamp from June 16-18. Minicamp is mandatory. OTAs are voluntary.

Here are my notes, takeaways and observations from the first of nine Chargers OTAs this spring.

1. The Chargers have 91 players on their roster. Only three were not on the field for Tuesday’s two-hour practice: tackle Rashawn Slater, offensive lineman Trey Pipkins III and edge rusher Bud Dupree. Slater is noteworthy because he and the Chargers are in the midst of contract extension negotiations.

Slater, the Chargers’ starting left tackle, is entering the final year of his deal — the fifth-year option the Chargers picked up a year ago — and is due $19.04 million.

This is the first time Slater has missed an opening OTAs session in his career. These are also voluntary workouts, so no need to sound an alarm just yet. The next real deadline is the start of minicamp, and Slater could face fines if he skips that. According to the collective bargaining agreement, teams can fine players up to $15,515 for the first missed day of minicamp, $31,030 for the second missed day and $46,540 for the third missed day.

In total, a player who misses all three days of minicamp could have to pay a little more than $93,000. We will cross that bridge if we get there.

2. The players who worked off to the side and did not participate in full team drills included cornerback Cam Hart, safety Elijah Molden, linebacker Daiyan Henley, cornerback Deane Leonard and receiver Luke Grimm.

Hart suffered a shoulder injury in the Chargers’ playoff loss to the Houston Texans last season. He said he suffered a torn labrum and had surgery in January. The Chargers have not fully cleared him yet, which is why he sat out, but he said he expects to be back by minicamp.

Molden is still working his way back from offseason meniscus surgery. He expects to be ready for training camp. Henley played through a torn labrum last season and underwent surgery.

3. Hart battled several injuries in what was otherwise a promising rookie season. He had two concussions. He nursed an ankle injury that at one point required him to wear a walking boot. His season ended in the playoffs when he suffered a labrum tear early in the second half of the loss in Houston.

He stated a pretty clear goal Tuesday: “17 healthy games.” The second-year cornerback showed some tantalizing flashes last year, particularly in his physicality on the outside, and he has real upside as a fast, long press-man corner. He just has to stay on the field. And that was a point of emphasis from defensive backs coach Steve Clinkscale.

“His thing is really just the durability,” Clinkscale said of Hart.

Hart delivered some eye-popping hits last season. In the Houston game, he injured his shoulder while delivering a shot on a receiver underneath.

“Once you cross that line of trying to change your game to compensate for the injury, then you’re just thinking too much, and football is never about thinking. It’s always about reacting,” Hart said. “Once I step on the field, I’m not thinking about no injury or what I may have nicked up last game. I’m out there to play, play full speed and give my team and my teammates everything I got. After I’m cleared, after I’m healthy, I move past it.”

4. It will be difficult to feel out the plan at cornerback until Hart is back on the field. One thing we can say for sure is that the competition will be heated. While the Chargers might be lacking blue-chip talent at this position, the room is very deep. Hart is back, and so is fellow 2024 fifth-round pick Tarheeb Still. The Chargers signed two veterans in free agency in Donte Jackson and Benjamin St-Juste. They drafted a cornerback in the seventh round in Trikweze Bridges. And Ja’Sir Taylor and Deane Leonard are also returning. That is seven players for what could end up being six spots on the 53-man depth chart.

The Chargers rotated heavily at corner in Tuesday’s practice. Some of that is related to how much safety Derwin James Jr. moves around. James played safety, nickel and dime in Tuesday’s practice, the same positions he played last year. Jackson, Still, St-Juste and Taylor all played on the outside in Tuesday’s practice. Still also played inside at nickel when James was not playing there.

When it comes time for training camp, I think we will see a top three of Jackson, Still and Hart. When James is at safety, all three of those players can be on the field at the same time — Jackson and Hart on the outside with Still in the slot. When James moves to nickel, only two of those three players can be on the field, and there should be some competition to sort out those spots. St-Juste, Taylor, Bridges and even Leonard should get opportunities to challenge for playing time.

“Nobody has a spot,” Clinkscale said. “We want to see who is going to earn it.”

5. Still had the best chance of the day to start making his case. In the opening period of 11-on-11, the starting offense faced the second-team defense, while the starting defense faced the second-team offense. On the first play of practice for the starting defense, backup quarterback Taylor Heinicke threw behind his intended receiver. The pass went right to Still, who could not make the catch for the interception. The ball tipped into the air, and linebacker Denzel Perryman came down with the pick.

“Too good to be true,” Still joked after practice.

6. It was a slower-tempo practice, meaning defensive backs were not allowed to challenge the ball unless they had a clear break and path. As Still put it, “Today was really about knowing where to be, lining up, really just making sure everybody stays up.”

The DBs nonetheless got their hands on some footballs. In the first period of 11-on-11, quarterback Justin Herbert threw to receiver Jalen Reagor on an over route to the left side. Reagor dropped the pass, and rookie safety Jaylen Jones picked it off. Jones had three interceptions in his senior season at Virginia Tech in 2024.

Jackson had a pass breakup on a go ball off play action from Heinicke to Brenden Rice. Bridges also intercepted Heinicke later in practice. Heinicke and receiver Mike Williams were not on the same page. Heinicke expected Williams to break off the route, but Williams continued upfield. Bridges took advantage of the miscommunication. On the next play, Taylor broke up a pass to Williams from Heinicke on an out route.

7. Rookie receiver Tre Harris showed up at a couple of different points in the practice. In the first period, he ran a smooth out route to the right side, created separation and hauled in a completion from Herbert. On the next snap, Harris won on a comeback route to the left side, beating Still. Heinicke hit Harris for the completion.

Late in the practice, during a third-down period, Harris caught a pass from Heinicke on a go route down the right sideline. The throw was into traffic, and this would have been a fun play to watch in a higher-tempo practice. Rookie safety RJ Mickens made a good read from the deep half and was in position to play the ball. Harris has some ability in contested-catch situations. We will have to wait until training camp to see that come fully to life.

8. Receiver Ladd McConkey made the splash play of the day down the left sideline during the third-down period. Herbert launched a go ball on a third-and-5. McConkey tipped the ball up to himself with one hand and made the catch. Still was in coverage.

Fielding a question about whether he would have made a play on the ball in a higher-tempo practice, Still smiled and said, “No comment.”

9. On top of Slater and Pipkins not being on the field, Zion Johnson also participated sparingly. He worked at left guard during the team offensive drills against air, but he did not have any snaps in the 11-on-11 period. The initial starting offensive line set up as such: left tackle Jamaree Salyer, left guard Branson Taylor, center Bradley Bozeman, right guard Mekhi Becton, right tackle Joe Alt. Karsen Barnhart also got first-team snaps at left guard. Johnson did work on some snapping to Herbert during individual drills, as his experiment at center continues.

(Photo of Rashawn Slater: Ronald Martinez / Getty Images)

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