Three receivers down in one afternoon
Sunday cost the Chargers more than a game. The 26-14 loss in Arizona left KeAndre Lambert-Smith headed for injured reserve with a hamstring, Ladd McConkey day to day with a rib problem and Derius Davis banged up too.
Los Angeles moved Tuesday night. ESPN reported the signing of Marquez Valdes-Scantling to the practice squad, 48 hours after the position group fell apart.
Coaches do not have many clean answers when three players at one spot go down in the same afternoon. The Chargers reached for a veteran who happened to be sitting at home without a contract.
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Six teams in eight years
Valdes-Scantling comes from Dallas, cut at the end of training camp last month. Eight NFL seasons, six franchises. He has never struggled to find work. He has also never stayed anywhere long.
Green Bay took him in the fifth round in 2018 out of South Florida and kept him through 2021. Kansas City followed from 2022 to 2023, and two Super Bowl rings came with it. Then Buffalo and New Orleans in 2024, San Francisco and Pittsburgh in 2025.
His peak was 2020 in Green Bay: 33 catches, 690 yards, six touchdowns, and a league-leading 20.9 yards per reception.
What 14 catches in a season buys you
Last year he managed 14 receptions for 120 yards and a single touchdown between the 49ers and the Steelers. Those are the recent numbers, and they are not flattering.
A practice squad spot is not a roster spot. Los Angeles is buying experience and a few weeks of cover until McConkey is right. The deep threat still exists on the résumé. Sunday afternoons will decide whether it exists anywhere else.
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