After hearing that tight end Hunter Henry suffered a tibial plateau fracture, putting him out for at least 4-6 weeks, Antonio Gates became the most popular name on Wednesday.
While most would expect for Los Angeles to call up the veteran tight end to serve as an insurance in his absence, it doesn’t appear that the team has interest in bringing him back for his seventeenth season at the moment.
“I have not been in contact with Antonio. I’m not sure what his situation is,” coach Anthony Lynn said.
This isn’t to say that general manager Tom Telesco hasn’t been on the phone with Gates and his representatives, but it wouldn’t be all that surprising if the ship has sailed.
Instead, tight ends Virgil Green and Sean Culkin will have their roles expanded while Henry recovers from his injury.
Green will get TE1 status, but Culkin has the ability to steal the majority of the targets from him.
Culkin looked good this summer catching the ball, posting five catches for 41 yards during preseason action. Meanwhile, Green was underwhelming in the 2018 season when he was supposed to step up, only catching 19 passes for 210 yards and a touchdown in the 16-game slate.
The Chargers could also look to bring up undrafted free agent Matt Sokol or newly acquired Stephen Anderson from the practice squad if they wish to carry three tight ends.
If anything, we can expect Los Angeles to go more into three wide receiver sets, led by Keenan Allen, Travis Benjamin and Dontrelle Inman (assuming Mike Williams misses this weekend’s contest).
