Chargers' Greg Roman wants 'sharper' offense for Week 6 vs. Broncos

Chris Roling | Oct 11, 2024

Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

Los Angeles Chargers offensive coordinator Greg Roman has come under fire early in his tenure with the team as the man behind the controls of Justin Herbert’s offense under head coach Jim Harbaugh. 

Speaking with the media before the Week 6 AFC West game against the Denver Broncos, Roman was asked about his protection plans in front of the quarterback and shouldered some of the blame for the offense’s slow start. 

"We've got to get to the point where — taking nothing away from our opponents — but we can't beat ourselves," Roman said, according to Omar Navarro and Eric Smith of Chargers.com. "That's first things first in the NFL. Coaches, players, we all just have to do it a little bit sharper."

So far, Herbert has thrown for just 578 yards and five touchdowns over four games. For whatever it’s worth, the star quarterback is now showing up miserably in quarterback rankings. 

As for Roman, to his credit, things flew off the rails pretty quickly due to things outside of his control. Herbert suffered a nagging ankle injury behind an offensive line that lost starting rookie breakout tackle Joe Alt to an injury of his own. Rashawn Slater, the other starting offensive tackle, has been out with an injury, too. The offense losing names like Keenan Allen at wideout and only having a rookie like Ladd McConkey to rely on presents an issue, too. 

All that aside, it was obvious going into the season that the Chargers would want to be more of a run-first team under Harbaugh and Roman. Opponents seemed to know it, too, which probably hasn’t helped once the injury bug struck. 

The good news for Roman? He sounds open to change, shoulders some of the blame and his offense appears to be getting much healthier. 

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