Tag: Austin Johnson injury

Chargers’ Otito Ogbonnia, Christian Covington out for season

The Chargers have gotten even thinner along the interior part of the defensive line.

The Chargers have gotten even thinner along the interior part of the defensive line.

Rookie defensive tackle Otito Ogbonnia (patellar tendon) and veteran Christian Covington (pectoral) were ruled out for the season after suffering injuries Sunday night against San Francisco.

Ogbonnia’s injury was initially thought to be a knee issue, as it looked like he had suffered a non-contact injury while defending a goal line run play in the second quarter. Covington injured his pectoral in the fourth quarter.

It’s a big loss for Los Angeles, who had rotated the two players on Sunday after losing Austin Johnson for the season last week against the Falcons.

Ogbonnia had played 46% of the defensive snaps against Atlanta, his second-highest mark of the season, and was in line to play more on Sunday. Covington played 48% of the snaps on Sunday before getting injured after playing 64% against Atlanta last week.

The rookie from UCLA had 14 tackles with a tackle for loss in seven games this season. Covington had 12 tackles with a tackle for loss in four games.

Without Covington or Ogbonnia in the lineup, the Chargers were down to just three defensive linemen against San Francisco: Sebastian Joseph-Day, Morgan Fox, and Breiden Fehoko.

They remain the only three healthy defensive linemen on the roster, with Joe Gaziano and rookie Christopher Hinton on the practice squad.

Chargers DT Austin Johnson out for season with knee injury

The Chargers will be without their best interior defender for the remainder of the 2022 season.

One of the Chargers’ most underrated defenders will miss the remainder of the season.

Defensive tackle Austin Johnson has an MCL injury and fractured knee, per Brandon Staley. The injury cuts short what had been a stellar campaign for Johnson, who was playing like Los Angeles’ best run defender up the middle.

With Johnson likely heading to IR, look for Otito Ogbonnia and Christian Covington to split his starting role. Ogbonnia played 46% of snaps Sunday against Atlanta, while Covington played 39%. Both saw larger roles with Jerry Tillery out, and Tillery is a candidate to receive more snaps when he returns from his own back injury.

Johnson’s injury may also open a path for preseason favorite Breiden Fehoko to garner an active roster spot after being waived in favor of Covington between Weeks 1 and 2.

The 28-year-old was tied for the team lead in run stops with 14 but led the team in run stop percentage at 11.4%. His average depth of tackle was 2.7 yards. Ogbonnia has stopped the run at a 5.1% clip with an average depth of 4.1 yards, while Covington stops 6.3% of plays with an average depth of 3.6 yards.