Chargers News: Jim Harbaugh Offers Latest Update on DJ Chark Injury

Chark was placed on IR before the season.

Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

Los Angeles Chargers head coach Jim Harbaugh told reporters Monday that wide receiver D.J. Chark will "be back soon" and is a "heck of a player."

The Chargers placed Chark on injured reserve prior to the start of the 2024 regular season with a hip injury, meaning he would miss at least the first four games of the season. Since the Chargers have a bye in Week 5, Chark will be first eligible to return on Oct. 13 when the Chargers face the Denver Broncos.

Chark signed with the Chargers in May after spending the 2023 season with the Carolina Panthers, where he caught 35 passes for 525 yards and five touchdowns. He previously spent one season with the Detroit Lions and four seasons with the Jacksonville Jaguars. He is projected to start when he returns from injury.

With Chark out of the lineup, the Chargers have had to rely on a receiving core with limited experience. He is the only receiver on the team to have gone for 1,000 yards in a season. In the Chargers' week one win over the Las Vegas Raiders, rookie second-round pick Ladd McConkey led the Chargers in receiving with five receptions for 39 yards and his first career touchdown.

In their Week 2 win over the Carolina Panthers, Quentin Johnston led the team in receiving with five receptions for 51 yards and two touchdowns.

In truth though, the Chargers have really not relied on their receivers that much. Rather, the passing game has complemented the dominant run game through the first two weeks of the season.

Running back J.K. Dobbins has been the engine of the Chargers' offense. Against the Raiders, Dobbins took off in the second half and finished the game with 10 carries for 135 yards and one touchdown. The following week against the Panthers, Dobbins carried the ball 17 times for 131 yards and another touchdown that saw him flip into the end zone.

Dobbins became the first player in Chargers history to rush for over 100 yards in the first two games of the season. He has averaged nearly 10 yards per carry behind a physical offensive line instilling Harbaugh's ideal style of play.

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