COSTA MESA, Calif. _ The Los Angeles Chargers' 48-17 thumping at the hands of the Seattle Seahawks in Sunday night's preseason opener was compounded by a potentially significant injury to a key starter.
Middle linebacker Denzel Perryman hurt his left ankle in the first quarter and returned to the sidelines on crutches and in a walking boot. Perryman had an MRI test Monday. The team did not issue a medical update.
"I'm not sure how bad it is right now, we'll have to wait and see," coach Anthony Lynn said after the game. "It could be serious, but I have no idea right now."
The team already lost projected starting right guard Forrest Lamp for the season when the second-round pick out of Western Kentucky tore the anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee in the first week of training camp.
First-round pick Mike Williams, the former Clemson wide receiver, will sit out training camp while recovering from a herniated disk in his lower back, an injury he suffered in May. There is no timetable for his return.
Perryman, 24, a second-round pick out of Miami in 2015, had 80 tackles, two sacks and one interception in 12 games, 11 of them starts, last season. He sat out four games because of hamstring and knee injuries. He had 95 tackles and two sacks in 14 games as a rookie in 2015.
Perryman's injury likely will push reserve middle linebacker Korey Toomer into the starting lineup. Toomer, who had four tackles Sunday night, appeared in 13 games, with eight starts, last season, recording 69 tackles and one sack.
