Chargers News: Derwin James Responds to Being Held Out of Big Moment in Bolts Loss

Derwin James was on the sideline during moments where his impact could have been monumental.

Despite firing their head coach and GM, the Los Angeles Chargers proved last night that they are still a highly competitive team. Giff Smith took over HC duties and nearly rallied his team to a victory. 

The Bills were on the ropes until the final 2 minutes of the game, scoring the go-ahead touchdown that placed the score at 24-22. Oddly enough, during the final stretch that saw Josh Allen march his team down the field, safety Derwin James Jr. was on the sideline. 

Stefon Diggs would line up against Essang Bassey. The end result of the play was a huge third-down conversion that led to the scoring drive for the Bills. Though defensively, James should have been out in coverage, he was not. 

“All hands was on deck today, and we was one or two plays away from winning the game,” James said in the locker room after the loss. “At the end of the day, that’s all that matters. I’m just trying to win, man, the best way we can. It don’t matter what group go out there. I just want to win.”

Via 

Derwin James, The Athletic

James' response was very self-aware considering he could have been very upset that he was held out of crucial moments like this. James also referred to his playing time as "different." 

We are unsure what sort of gameplan Smith had coming into the game to want to limit James, but that was one of the moments where he should have been shadowing or at least backing up those covering Diggs. 

The game ending in this manner did not all come down to this specific play, but we believe James could have been instrumental in the Bills securing this big third down.

The good news is that the Chargers nearly came away with the win, and showed how and why they can return to AFC relevancy in 2024.