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Ladd McConkey Active vs. Raiders Despite Cracked Rib

By JR·1 min read
Ladd McConkey Active vs. Raiders Despite Cracked Rib

TLDR: Ladd McConkey missed two straight practices on a cracked rib, but the Chargers cleared him to go against the Raiders anyway.

  1. Ladd McConkey took a shot to the ribs in the Chargers' Week 1 loss to the Cardinals and spent the entire week trending toward a game-time decision. He sat out practice Wednesday and Thursday, then only managed a limited session Friday. Officially he was questionable. Unofficially, most of the football world assumed a cracked rib meant a rough Sunday for a guy who's Justin Herbert's clear No. 1 target.

    Kris Rhim

    Kris Rhim @krisrhim1 · Chargers wide receiver Ladd McConkey (rib) is active

    That assumption held right up until inactives dropped. Adam Schefter confirmed McConkey is good to go for the Raiders game, ending a week of will-he-won't-he that had fantasy managers sweating their flex spot.

    Adam Schefter

    Adam Schefter @AdamSchefter · Chargers WR Ladd McConkey is active today.

    The full inactives report added a wrinkle on the other side of the ball. ProFootballTalk noted McConkey is active while Raiders tight end Brock Bowers is out, still working back from offseason knee surgery. Las Vegas is being cautious with Bowers even though he followed a similar DNP-DNP-limited pattern in practice this week — the opposite call the Chargers made with McConkey.

    ProFootballTalk

    ProFootballTalk @ProFootballTalk · Ladd McConkey active, Brock Bowers inactive for Chargers-Raiders. t.co/3zz0bNglwn

    McConkey's Week 1 line got cut short by the injury, and a cracked rib isn't something that just goes away by Sunday — it's the kind of thing that lingers and can knock a guy out mid-game if he takes another hit in the wrong spot. Playing through it says a lot about how much the Chargers need him on the field, especially with Herbert leaning on him as the security blanket in this offense.

    Getting the green light doesn't erase the risk. McConkey will presumably be monitored closely against the Raiders, and another shot to the ribs could end his day regardless of what the injury report said pregame. For now, the Chargers are betting the upside of their best receiver outweighs the downside of pushing him back out there a week after he got hurt.

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