The Los Angeles Chargers will likely be without Melvin Gordon in the regular season, which puts immense pressure on Austin Ekeler and Justin Jackson.
Anyone holding out hope that Melvin Gordon would stop, well, holding out of Los Angeles Chargers training camp and the preseason seems to be sorely mistaken. As of right now, it doesn’t appear the running back is coming back.
That doesn’t just account for the preseason, either. As Gordon still tries to get a new contract with the Bolts, the running back is reportedly set to miss regular-season games for the Chargers, per NFL Network insider Ian Rapoport. He’s standing true to his word that, until a new deal gets done, he’s not reporting to the team.
Rapoport also added that Gordon will be far away from the team while his holdout continues, working out by himself in Florida. The report also offered very little optimism as the two sides apparently aren’t close on a contract for the running back:
At this point, #Chargers RB Melvin Gordon’s holdout is expected to continue into the season, sources say. Contract talks have not progressed as he hoped, and he’ll continue to train in Florida for the foreseeable future.
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) August 21, 2019
Obviously, not having one of the better running backs in the league is a tough blow for the offense. Lamenting Gordon not being on the field isn’t going to help the Chargers, though. Anthony Lynn, Philip Rivers and company will now turn to the duo of Austin Ekeler and Justin Jackson to carry the load.
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Ekeler has already played a key role in the Bolts’ offense to this point after two seasons with the team. The West Colorado product has been a dynamic receiving threat out of the backfield, amassing 683 yards and six touchdowns on 88 catches over his 30 games in the league. Furthermore, he’s averaged 5.3 yards per carry serving as Gordon’s backup.
A 2018 seventh-round pick, Jackson is far more unproven. Coming out of Northwestern last season, the running back appeared in only 13 games and notched just 50 carries on the year, going for 206 yards and two scores with those touches. When he was put in a featured role in Week 15 last year, though, he was pedestrian with only 58 yards on 16 carries, though he did find the end zone.
In the first two games of the preseason, Ekeler has rushed for 49 yards on eight carries while four balls for 35 yards. Jackson, meanwhile, has rushed for 55 yards on 13 carries in preseason action to this point.
Put simply, what we’ve seen from Ekeler and Jackson doesn’t inspire confidence that they’re much more than solid backup options. Thus, putting them into a featured role with Gordon out of the lineup really puts them in the spotlight. Both players are going to need to more consistent than they have been up to now.
Perhaps the Chargers can scour the waiver-wire for other options after 53-man roster cuts around the league transpire. That may alleviate some of the concern about Gordon missing time. For now, though, LA is relying on Ekeler and Jackson to step up and fill some big shoes.