Chargers TE Donald Parham Jr. to Make Season Debut in Week 5 vs. Browns

After missing the first four games of the season, Chargers tight end Donald Parham Jr. will play in Week 5.

Nicholas Cothrel | Oct 7, 2022

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Los Angeles Chargers

COSTA MESA – It's been 10 months since Donald Parham Jr. has last played in a football game.

The Chargers tight end was carted off on a stretcher last year on December 16th when Parham's head hit the SoFi Stadium turf following a pass into the end zone during the Week 15 Thursday night game against the Chiefs.

Following a long road to recovery, spanning several months, Parham had gotten off to a rather encouraging start through the early phase of training camp. He was hauling in notable catches during team period drills, high-pointing the ball in the end zone.

But on Aug. 6, Parham injured his hamstring in training camp when he came down awkwardly after receiving a touchdown throw from Justin Herbert during 11-on-11 drills.

“He was having a really good camp, but he had that hamstring injury, which turned out to be pretty significant and kept him out for a number of weeks," offensive coordinator Joe Lombardi said. "Real positive up to the injury and then he was working back into practice last week and looked pretty good."

Parham described the injury as something he didn’t have an exact explanation on how or why it came about. It was more of an incident that popped up at random, feeling discomfort after securing the end zone grab during camp.

"It was just kind of a freak accident thing," Parham said of the hamstring injury suffered two months ago. "I just kind of stepped wrong."

Parham now sits two days away from making his season debut against the Browns in Cleveland, where the Chargers will attempt to come away with their third win of the season.

Parham was never placed on injured reserve despite his four-week absence to start the year. He and the team had hopes for a faster recovery period, but just ahead of the Week 1 game, he suffered a setback.

"It was rough, but all I could do is support the guys that are out there and be there for them and have their back," Parham said of the time he missed.

After being a full participant in practice all week, Parham will step back into the role he carved out last season.

“We’re expecting for him to get into that role that he had last year, get him into the fire and get him out there," Staley said on his expectations for Parham. "We wanted to have these first two weeks to fully get him acclimated into practice. I’m sure that there is going to be some sucking wind out there a little bit with his first game, but we expect him to have a full role in the game.”

By inserting Parham into the Chargers offense, he'll join up with Gerald Everett. Parham will slide into the No. 2 tight end position, giving Herbert another big body target to turn towards.

At 6-foot-8, 238 pounds, Parham is a mis-match for just about any defender he goes up against. During training camp, Everett referenced LeBron James when discussing Parham's frame to emphasize just how unique he is physically.

As for Everett, the team's second-leading receiver through the first four weeks, he's expected to demand similar usage within the offense.

“Gerald’s role is going to stay as is," Staley said. "What I think that you can do with Donald is he can do some of the jobs that take the load off of Gerald a little bit, where Gerald was, I think, sharing multiple jobs with D.P. being out."

Wide receiver Keenan Allen has been ruled out for Sunday due to a hamstring injury, so perhaps the Chargers could turn to 12 personnel at times to implement two tight end sets and get Parham involved.

“I think he’s a guy that’s a pretty important weapon to us when he’s rolling," Lombardi said. "I think he feels good right now. We’re not going to overload his assignments on his first game back, but certainly someone that we’re planning to work in."

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