EL SEGUNDO, Calif. (AP) — The Los Angeles Chargers are moving on without Rashawn Slater after the offensive lineman's torn patellar tendon sidelined him for the season.
“It's like a gut punch,” coach Jim Harbaugh said Friday.
The 315-pound lineman was carted off the practice field Thursday after teammates offered consoling hugs.
“His right foot slipped out from under him as he was making a set before contact,” Harbaugh said, “and then all his weight came down on his left side and it was too much strain on the patella and it ruptured.”
The injury came nearly two weeks after Slater signed a $114 million, four-year contract extension that included $92 million in guaranteed money.
“I just feel bad for Rashawn. I know how much he’s put into it, how much he’s trained,” said Harbaugh, who texted with the lineman. “I also know how he’ll attack the rehab and train and he’ll be back. Not this season, but I know he’ll be back.”
Harbaugh avoided what he called a “cliche” message to his team after Slater went down.
“It would be embarrassing to tell them, ‘Next man up,’” he said. “I know they're going to do it.”
With Slater out, Joe Alt will move from right to left tackle, a position he played at Notre Dame before becoming the fifth overall pick in the draft.
“He's been ascending as much as anybody on the team,” Harbaugh said. “The most improved guy could be Joe Alt and he was really good last year.”
Alt started 16 games as a rookie, switching to left tackle in the team's final regular season game. Now, he's focused on getting multiple repetitions of left tackle sets and stance.
“Our job now is to go out there and do the best we can to honor him," Alt said about Slater. “That’s our goal as an offensive line, just draw closer together and really just trust one another.”
Trey Pipkins will move into the starting right tackle role.
“Joe will attack anything, any opportunity you give him,” Pipkins said. “He's as confident as he can be.”
Pipkins talked to Slater on Friday and said his injured teammate was joking around. But the offensive line is serious about impressing Slater with their results this season.
“That's what's going to make him proud,” Pipkins said. “Give him comfort in how well we're going to play.”
Running back Najee Harris is continuing to recover from an eye injury he sustained from a firework in Northern California. Harbaugh said there's no timeline for his return.
In Sunday's preseason game against New Orleans, Taylor Heinicke will start at quarterback although Trey Lance will get the majority of snaps. DJ Uiagalelei also will see action.
AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/NFL
FILE - Los Angeles Chargers offensive tackle Rashawn Slater (70) walks on the field before an NFL football game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Dec. 15, 2024, in Inglewood, Calif. (AP Photo/Kyusung Gong, File)
WENGEN, Switzerland (AP) — Host Italy has a new contender in Alpine skiing with the Milan Cortina Winter Olympics three weeks away.
Giovanni Franzoni claimed his first World Cup victory on the famed Lauberhorn course in a super-G Friday — four months after his close friend and former roommate, Matteo Franzoso, died in a crash during preseason training in Chile.
The 24-year-old Franzoni — a former world junior champion in super-G, downhill and Alpine combined — was the first racer on course and took advantage of the No. 1 bib to deliver a near-perfect run.
Reaching a top speed of 140.44 kph (87 mph), Franzoni finished 0.35 seconds ahead of Stefan Babinsky of Austria and 0.37 ahead of downhill world champion Franjo von Allmen of Switzerland.
Franzoni handled the tricky Canadian Corner and Kernen S sections on the upper portion of the course cleaner than anyone else.
“I made the difference on the turn where I crashed a few years ago,” he said, referring to his season-ending fall in a super-G in 2023 that resulted in thigh surgery.
Swiss overall World Cup leader Marco Odermatt, a four-time winner in Wengen, placed fourth, 0.53 behind.
The top American was Ryan Cochran-Siegle in sixth.
Franzoni also led both downhill training sessions and could be a contender in the classic downhill on Saturday. His previous best World Cup finish was third in a super-G on home snow in Val Gardena last month.
Now Franzoni will be among the leaders for Italy’s team in Bormio, where men’s Alpine skiing will be contested during the Olympics.
“If you had told me that I would be third in Val Gardena and then win here — on the two courses that I've had the most trouble on — I wouldn't have believed it,” Franzoni said.
The opening ceremony for the Games is scheduled for Feb. 6.
“I don't know about the future, but the present has changed," Franzoni said. "We always live day by day.”
Marco Schwarz, the Austrian who won the previous super-G in Livigno, Italy, last month, missed the race due to sickness.
Also sitting out this weekend is Aleksander Aamodt Kilde, the Norwegian standout who returned this season after a horrific crash in Wengen two years ago.
“This year," Kilde said on Instagram this week, "it’s just a little too early.”
AP Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/milan-cortina-2026-winter-olympics
Giovanni Franzoni of Italy takes a jump during the alpine ski, men's World Cup super-G race, in Wengen, Switzerland, Friday, Jan. 16, 2026. (Jean-Christophe Bott/Keystone via AP)
Switzerland's Marco Odermatt reacts at finish line during an alpine ski, men's World Cup super-G, in Wengen, Switzerland, Friday Jan. 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Giovanni Zenoni)
Switzerland's Franjo von Allmen reacts at finish line during an alpine ski, men's World Cup super-G, in Wengen, Switzerland, Friday Jan. 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Giovanni Zenoni)
Austria's Stefan Babinsky speeds down the course during an alpine ski, men's World Cup super-G, in Wengen, Switzerland, Friday Jan. 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Gabriele Facciotti)
Italy's Giovanni Franzoni reacts at finish line during an alpine ski, men's World Cup super-G, in Wengen, Switzerland, Friday Jan. 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Giovanni Zenoni)
Italy's Giovanni Franzoni speeds down the course during an alpine ski, men's World Cup super-G, in Wengen, Switzerland, Friday Jan. 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Gabriele Facciotti)
