For the first time in two weeks, the Chargers had both of their leading rushers on the practice field Tuesday, and the team didn’t stop at stocking the backfield with only J.K. Dobbins and Gus Edwards.
Former Dallas Cowboys running back Ezekiel Elliott made his Chargers practice debut Tuesday after being signed to the practice squad. The Chargers made the move official while releasing receiver Laviska Shenault.
With the Cowboys well outside of the postseason picture, Elliott asked to be released after playing 15 games for the team that drafted him fourth overall in 2016. Three seasons removed from his last 1,000-yard campaign, the 29-year-old was searching for an opportunity to compete for a championship in the waning years of his career.
Playing this week for their first playoff win since 2018, the Chargers scooped Elliott off the waiver wire.
“Competitors welcome at the Los Angeles Chargers,” coach Jim Harbaugh said Tuesday.
Elliott could bolster an offense that is hitting its stride entering the playoffs, where the Chargers play the Houston Texans at 1:30 p.m. PST on Saturday in the wild-card round.
The Chargers (11-6) have scored 34 or more points in each of their last three games — all wins — while surging from seventh in the AFC playoff picture to the more desirable No. 5 seed. The performances came despite injuries to the team’s top running backs.
Edwards missed the last two games because of an ankle injury. Dobbins returned from a four-game absence just in time to pick up the slack, but the Chargers’ leading rusher appeared to tweak an ankle in Sunday’s regular-season finale with the Las Vegas Raiders.
Dobbins, who has rushed for a career-best 905 yards and nine touchdowns despite missing four games because of a knee injury, and Edwards were limited participants in practice Tuesday and the Chargers listed both with ankle injuries. Quickly thrown into the mix after traveling to L.A., Elliott chatted during warmups with Dobbins, a fellow former Ohio State star, while wearing a freshly printed No. 24 jersey.
“He’s picked it up pretty quickly and was out there today, so it’s cool to have him around,” said quarterback Justin Herbert, who said he’s happy to offer any support for Elliott during the transition but acknowledged the running back had been in the facility for only a few hours.
Herbert had one of his most impressive performances of the season Sunday, throwing for 346 yards and two touchdowns while completing 77.8% of his passes in a 34-20 win against the Raiders. He averaged 303.7 yards in the last three games, completing 70.5% of his passes and throwing for seven touchdowns after the team was searching for consistency for most of the year.
The star quarterback acknowledged the learning curve required for players to get used to a new offense under first-year coordinator Greg Roman. Mastering the playbook doesn’t just come from practice, he said. It required game day experience.
From an entire regular season of watching Herbert, Harbaugh noticed how the quarterback could disguise throws by keeping his mechanics nearly identical no matter what route he is throwing. It puts defenses a step behind because they can’t anticipate where Herbert is throwing the ball, the coach said. It also took some getting used to from his receivers.
“A lot of times when they’re running these routes, the ball might be halfway there,” Harbaugh said. “I really think that we’re seeing the chemistry now.”
Harbaugh pointed to the career game from receiver Quentin Johnston, who caught 13 passes for 186 yards against the Raiders. Johnston delivered a highlight-reel catch in the fourth quarter, reaching out with one hand to pull the ball back toward his body and tuck it in as he fell to the ground for a 39-yard gain. The explosive play led to a Chargers touchdown 10 plays later.
The ball got lost in the lights when he turned his head, Johnston said, so once it came into his vision, all he could do was react by throwing his hand out.
“It was just one of those plays where my quarterback had a lot of trust in me,” Johnston said, “so I had no choice but to do everything in my power to bring it in.”
The Texans’ defense will provide a much more difficult challenge than the New England Patriots or Raiders, who were fighting for draft positioning more than playoff seeding by the end of the season.
Houston (10-7) won its second consecutive AFC South crown behind a defense that Harbaugh called “scary good.” The Texans rank fourth in the NFL with 49 sacks and second with 19 interceptions.
“Really good with pressure, got really good players, but they’re really well coached,” Harbaugh said. “It’s a really good scheme, and they know it well. They play it well. They play fast. I’m sure there’s a lot of thinking going on, but they’re anticipating, they’re getting the first step, step and a half headed in the right direction.”
2025 schedule
The NFL announced matchups for next season on Monday with the Chargers hosting games against Houston, Indianapolis, Philadelphia, Washington, Pittsburgh and Minnesota. In addition to home-and-away series against their AFC West rivals Kansas City, Denver and Las Vegas, the Chargers will travel to Dallas, Jacksonville, the New York Giants, Tennessee and Miami.
Etc.
Left tackle Rashawn Slater, who missed Sunday’s game after feeling discomfort in his left knee, was a limited participant in practice. … The Chargers opened the 21-day practice window for Simi Fehoko. The wide receiver missed the last two months on injured reserve after dislocating an elbow. … Wide receiver Joshua Palmer (foot) did not practice after missing Sunday’s game.
