The Chargers will take the field for the first time in 2026 with an opening weekend matchup against the Cardinals on deck.
Here's what Los Angeles needs to do on offense to come away with a win.
One of the biggest appeals of hiring Mike McDaniel this offseason to coordinate the offense is what it might do for Herbert, who is being lauded as a potential MVP candidate with McDaniel's system attached. Chargers fans caught a glimpse of what that could look like in the preseason game against the Rams when Herbert hit Quentin Johnston for a long-range touchdown. A full game of Herbert operating the McDaniel offense should be a thing of beauty, but both men will need to show that this marriage lives up to the hype in order for Sunday to feel like a success.
McDaniel put up wanted posters for fullback Alec Ingold and running back Keaton Mitchell in the Chargers facility before LA was able to sign both players, in addition to adding tight ends Charlie Kolar and David Njoku. Sunday will be LA's first chance to show why those players in particular make this offense hum - what sort of usage does Ingold see as a fullback? Is Kolar going to be a more well-rounded receiving threat? What does the rotation look like between Kolar, Njoku, and second-year player Oronde Gadsden II? How much will Mitchell eat into Omarion Hampton's touches? The Chargers should be looking for proof of concept in Week 1, and that will come by answering at least a few of those questions and introducing fans to some of their new contributors on offense.
An interior offensive line of left guard Kayode Awosika, rookie second-round pick center Jake Slaughter, and right guard Cole Strange isn't anything to write home about, but McDaniel has made do with seemingly substandard trios on the inside before. Nolen looked like a potential game-wrecker in limited action for Arizona last season and now returns as the cornerstone of a defensive line who will look to take advantage of what has to be LA's greatest weakness on offense. If the Chargers can keep Nolen from making a big impact by sending help towards him and getting the ball out quickly to start the game, they should be able to keep things humming on offense.

#mcdaniel #kolar

Jannik Schuster is in line for his first league start, having come off the bench to replace the injured Nathan Collins last weekend.
Aaron Hickey joins him in the backline this afternoon, with Michael Kayode named on the bench.
Yehor Yarmoliuk and Jaidon Anthony also start, with the latter facing his former club, while Gustavo Nunes is included in a first-team matchday squad for the first time this term.
Vitaly Janelt will captain the west Londoners on Saturday afternoon.
Brentford (4-3-3): Kelleher; Hickey, Ajer, Schuster, Lewis-Potter; Sangaré, Janelt, Yarmoliuk; Anthony, Thiago, Schade

#start #afternoon

They replace Mathias Jensen and Dango Ouattara, the latter of whom is named amongst the substitutes.
Joining Ouattara on the bench are new signing El Hadji Malick Diouf, who signed for the west Londoners on a permanent deal from West Ham United earlier this week, and Fábio Carvalho, who will make his first appearance since sustaining an ACL injury in November if he features.
Brentford (4-3-3-): Kelleher; Kayode, Ajer, Collins, Lewis-Potter; Sangaré, Janelt, Damsgaard, Anthony, Thiago Schade
Subs: Valdimarsson, Schuster, Hickey, Henry, Yarmoliuk, Ouattara, Wilson, Carvalho, Diouf

#ouattara #diouf #carvalho

The Los Angeles Chargers are preparing for another season and have some roster decisions to make before cutdown day.
Chargers coach Jim Harbaugh and general manager Joe Hortiz will have to work together to finalize the 53-man roster. NFL teams must complete their cuts by 6 p.m. ET on Sunday, Aug. 30. Players could be released in the days and hours leading up to the deadline.
The Chargers will have to account for several scenarios, especially for a franchise that's been plagued by injuries and late-game mistakes.
In recent years, the Chargers have dealt with injuries across the offensive line. The Chargers already had some attrition there and will have to lean on second-round pick Jake Slaughter as their new starter, following the season-ending injury to Tyler Biadasz.
Kayode Awosika and Trey Pipkins III were among the contenders for the Chargers' starting left guard spot. Awosika was tabbed as the starter for the last preseason game and may have secured the starting role. He's made just 11 career starts. Pipkins is in his eighth season with the Chargers and has the ability to play both guard and tackle. He's made 51 starts at tackle and just 15 as a guard.

#guard #roster #game

Roberto De Zerbi's Tottenham crash badly on their debut against Brentford: 3-0 thanks to goals from Lewis-Potter, Janelt and Kayode. A defeat that could have been even heavier, given that Igor Thiago missed a penalty with the result already beyond doubt.
The numbers tell the story of the match well: Brentford had 26 shots, 8 on target, compared to Spurs' 9 overall (they also had 4 on target, but almost all from Moore from the same position).
The first half was completely dominated by the Bees, who cut through Tottenham's defence with a fine team move: Sangaré drilled in a low cross for Lewis-Potter, who scored from the edge of the six-yard box.
The 2-0 came after Richarlison lost the ball in his own half, Jensen shot from distance, and Kinsky's poor save (made first-choice keeper despite last year's Champions League disaster) allowed Janelt to score.
Spurs had zero shots on target in the first half: they managed only two attempts, both from outside the box. A disastrous opening period, so much so that Kayode alone managed more touches in the box than the entire Tottenham team.

#janelt #kayode #SPURS

Italy U21 star Michael Kayode was on hand to send Brentford 3-0 up against Tottenham Hotspur in their first Premier League game of the 2026-27 season, piling more misery on Roberto De Zerbi in the Spurs dugout.
Kayode was in the right place at the right time to get a leg to the ball from the second phase of a corner to put Brentford 3-0 up against Tottenham three minutes into the second half at the Gtech Community Stadium.
His effort came after first-half strikes from Keane Lewis-Potter and Vitaly Janelt.
This was Kayode's second ever goal in the English top flight; his first coming in a 2-2 draw with Wolverhampton Wanderers in March earlier this year. He put pen to paper on a long-term contract extension with Brentford earlier this summer, committing his future to the Bees until the summer of 2032.
His goal came against an Italian head coach in Roberto De Zerbi. Italy international Sandro Tonali was also included in the Tottenham starting line-up.

#kayode

El SEGUNDO, Calif. -- It only took seven reps for a key Chargers offensive lineman to go down. Center Tyler Biadasz had his head down as he was carted into the facility.
On the seventh play of Tuesday morning's joint practice, Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert threw a pass downfield to receiver Quentin Johnston, who made a heck of a grab while also being interfered with by 49ers cornerback Deommodore Lenoir.
While everyone was celebrating downfield, the training staff rushed to Biadasz, who was on the ground in pain and favoring his left leg. During the play to Johnston, left guard Kayode Awosika blocked 49ers defensive lineman Sebastian Valdez into Biadasz's leg.
The Chargers center was helped up by two trainers and onto the cart. As he sat on it, Biadasz hit the cart three times in frustration. Herbert and multiple players came over to offer their support.
"Obviously praying for the best," Herbert said after practice.

#biadasz #herbert #down

The Chargers came out and "out-physical'd" the Texans for the majority of the game, per Houston head coach DeMeco Ryans. After a back-and-forth game through the first half, the Chargers' depth continued to pour it on during the final 30 minutes. And that goes for both sides of the ball.
Unsurprisingly, that was reflected in this week's grades from Pro Football Focus.
Without further ado, for the first time this season, here are the best and worst performers from Chargers-Texans, per PFF.
Best
OG Kayode Awosika – 90.1
C Jacob Spomer – 82.0
Trevor Penning – 78.1
OT Travis Burke – 73.8
WR Devonte Ross – 73.7

#game

El SEGUNDO, Calif. -- The Chargers' second day in pads took place Thursday morning at The Bolt and featured more live-play situations, along with one-on-one reps between the offensive and defensive lines.
Right off the bat, left tackle Rashawn Slater, who left the first padded practice on Tuesday, warmed up with the team and played a couple of snaps at left tackle during 11-on-11. He rotated with Trey Pipkins and Branson Taylor.
Taylor saw the most reps at left guard with the first-team offensive line in front of quarterback Justin Herbert. In fact, he took all of the reps unless he was moved to left tackle. The Chargers might like the growth they have seen from his rookie year until now, which could explain why he is seeing consistent playing time.
Kayode Awosika stepped in at left guard when Taylor moved to left tackle. When Trey Lance was at quarterback, the offensive line in front of him consisted of Pipkins, Awosika, Jake Slaughter, Trevor Penning and Logan Taylor.
The offensive line did a better job during 11-on-11 on Thursday than it did during the first padded practice.

#left #tackle #line

Good morning, Chargers fans!
On day one of training camp, the Chargers had Kayode Awosika and Jake Slaughter rotate in and out at left guard with the first team. The names rotated in over the next four days were all different, but Monday's session brought with it a reload back to the duo of Awosika and Slaughter. Guys like Trevor Penning, Trey Pipkins, and Branson Taylor all got reps with the ones in that span, as well.
If the cycle continues the way it did in week one, then it will be Awosika and Penning to rotate in at left guard with the 1s while Slaughter plays both left guard and center with the 2s.
How are you all feeling about the current competition there? Is Awosika still the favorite? Do you think Slaughter has gained ground thus far? Let us know below!
And now for today's links.

#slaughter #good

The Chargers plan to determine their starting left guard in the third week of August, aiming to finalize the position after roughly 10 to 13 more training camp practices, head coach Jim Harbaugh said.
Harbaugh and offensive coordinator Mike McDaniel emphasized that the decision will not be rushed, stating that the "wide-open" competition will truly be decided only after evaluating players during live-action, padded practices.
"There's going to be a really fun competition that's just getting underway," McDaniel said. "But really, you can't claim a lead player in that race this early in the process, particularly because that's a job of blocking people, and we really haven't got to the stage of truly blocking someone, which occurs when you have pads on."
While free-agent addition Kayode Awosika took the majority of first-team reps during early non-padded offseason programs and OTAs, the coaching staff has intentionally slowed the evaluation process and added other players to the mix.
Five linemen have cycled through the first-team offense during the first four days of camp, with those being Awosika, rookie Jake Slaughter, Trevor Penning, Trey Pipkins and Branson Taylor.

#harbaugh #practices #Competition

El SEGUNDO, Calif. -- There is a battle heating up at Chargers training camp. Four practices in, the team has five contenders competing for one starting spot at left guard.
As of Saturday morning, Jim Harbaugh has given reps at the position to Kayode Awosika, Trevor Penning, Jake Slaughter, Trey Pipkins and, most recently, Branson Taylor.
"The way guys are going after it, there's going to be a really fun competition that's just getting underway," offensive coordinator Mike McDaniel said. "But you can't claim a lead player in that race this early in the process, particularly because that's a job of blocking people and we really haven't got to the stage of truly blocking something, which occurs when you have pads on."
Awosika split reps with Slaughter on the first day of camp before sharing the workload with Penning on Day 2. The competition took an unexpected turn on Day 3 when Pipkins entered the mix, and another surprise came Saturday when Taylor took all of the first-team reps at left guard.
McDaniel said Friday that Awosika, Slaughter, Penning and Pipkins were "the core" of the competition, making Taylor's addition an intriguing development.

#reps #saturday #taylor #camp

Good morning, Chargers fans!
Through two days of training camp, it's been more of the same for second-round rookie Jake Slaughter. He spent the majority of the offseason running as the second-team center while also seeing snaps at left guard with the 2s and 3s.
In the meantime, free-agent addition Kayode Awosika has remained as the current starter at left guard. He played with the 1s on Wednesday before seeing less snaps on Thursday while Trevor Penning was given a look in front of Justin Herbert.
At some point, if the Chargers truly want Slaughter to be in the fight for the starting LG job, they need to start giving him actual and consistent reps there. If not, then that pick will become even more of a head-scratcher than it was at the time it was made.
For now, it's still early enough that things could change dramatically by the start of the regular season, but it remains one of the team's biggest storylines at this point in the summer.

#snaps #left #start

Fabio Paratici has wasted no time stamping his mark on this Fiorentina squad. He's brought in 5 new players already and more are coming. That's good news: the Viola needed to refresh a stale, ailing group. What I'm interested in, though, is the senior players the new sporting director has sold. No, I don't mean outcasts like Lucas Beltrán and Amir Richardson and Alessandro Bianco. I don't mean unfortunate salary casualty Robin Gosens. No, I mean all the academy-trained talent in the system.
Until the Viola create a B-team, it will lose a crop of academy kids every summer. Most of them never had a chance of breaking through to the first team. For the handful who might have the quality, finding an acceptable path within the club is difficult. The most common outcome is what happened to, say, Eduard Duțu last year: a promising young defender, he ended up on 7 loan deals before leaving Florence for good last year without ever making a senior appearance. Guys like Luca Ranieri—loans to Foggia, Ascoli, SPAL, and Salernitana before breaking through—are the exception. It's rare for to see one of these youngsters take that final step.
Young players matter to fans in a way they don't to the club itself. For fans, every 17-year-old who dribbles a 3rd-tier defender in preseason becomes a future star. That's not just luxurious thinking. We need that fantasy—the academy contains untold riches—because it reinforces two narratives that sustain us, especially through the lean years. First, we get to believe that we know ball and can identify buried talent because that allows us to think of ourselves as knowledgeable, superior, and in control of something over which we actually exert no control. Second, we get to think that Fiorentina is doing something better than other clubs, allowing us to enjoy vicarious success and prove to ourselves that there's a reason to support an organization that constantly falls short.
The other bit is that fans connect with kids they've watched grow up more than they do with senior players brought in on the open market. There are Borja Valero exceptions, of course, but in a vacuum, we'd all prefer an academy product more than a player of equal talent who transferred in. It demonstrates that the club's process is successful. It also provides a connection to the city: every time you see a kid like Tommaso Martinelli post a picture of himself as a child in the Curva Fiesole, it reinforces the depth of feeling the locals have for the club in a way that nothing else can.
Fiorentina has enjoyed unprecedented success at youth level in the Commisso era. Daniele Galloppa led the kids to their first scudetto in 43 years, adding that trophy to 4 Coppe Italia and 2 Supercoppe since the 2019-2020 season. There's been a rich seam of talent at the RBCVPetc, churning out senior internationals (Federico Chiesa, Jan Mlakar, Michael Kayode), promising youngsters (Daniele Ghilardi, Edoardo Pierozzi, Costantino Favasuli) and steady veterans dotting t

The Chargers are less than a week away from the start of training camp, and the anticipation is building.
While most starting jobs and roster spots appear to be locked in at positions like quarterback, running back and safety, there are still several key roles that remain unsettled.
Those battles will begin to take shape in the coming weeks. Heading into training camp, here are the four biggest postion groups still unclear.
The left guard position will be one of the more intriguing battles entering training camp. The players fighting for the starting spot are veterans Kayode Awosika, Trevor Penning and second-round pick Jake Slaughter. Slaughter enters his first training camp having only played center at Flordia. Awosika appears to have the upper hand, as he received most of the work with the first-team offense during the spring.
While Omarion Hampton is locked in as the featured starter, who will secure the primary change-of-pace duties is a competition in its own. Free-agent acquisition Keaton Mitchell brings explosive, home-run speed that fits the scheme perfectly, but he faces a strong challenge from Kimani Vidal, who proved his reliability with a productive 643-yard season last year.

#starting