The Los Angeles Chargers received crushing injury news ahead of their Week 10 game against the Pittsburgh Steelers.
As announced on Monday, Joe Alt will undergo season-ending surgery on a right ankle injury suffered in Sunday’s game against the Tennessee Titans. The star left tackle was carted off the field in the second quarter of a 27-20 victory.
Alt missed three games with a high ankle sprain to the same ankle earlier this season. The Chargers lost two of them, allowing nine sacks and committing five turnovers, before winning back-to-back games with 338 combined rushing yards after his return.
Los Angeles selected Alt with the No. 5 pick of last year’s draft to begin the Jim Harbaugh era. The Notre Dame product helped the Chargers return to the playoffs with an 11-5 season.
Pro Football Focus grades Alt as the fifth-best tackle with the fifth-best mark in pass blocking. The 22-year-old has committed one penalty and allowed one sack this season.
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Making matters worse, Alt isn’t the first Chargers lineman lost for the season. Right tackle Rashawn Slater suffered a torn patella tendon in August that required surgery.
The Chargers rank fifth in total offense, but they have also allowed the NFL’s fifth-most sacks (29). A short-handed unit must protect Justin Herbert against a Steelers defense that bounced back with six takeaways and five sacks in a Week 9 win over the Indianapolis Colts.
NBC’s “Sunday Night Football” matchup between the Steelers and Chargers starts at 8:20 p.m. ET.
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Featured image via Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images