Ladd McConkey’s rib injury has now cost him two full days of practice, and the Los Angeles Chargers are running out of week to get their top wide receiver ready for Sunday’s AFC West meeting with the Las Vegas Raiders.
McConkey did not practice Thursday for the second consecutive day, and ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported that the absence leaves him unlikely to be available when the Raiders visit SoFi Stadium. Minutes later, Schefter added that Raiders tight end Brock Bowers also sat out again and has yet to practice since undergoing knee surgery last week.
Raiders TE Brock Bowers also did not practice again today due to last week’s knee surgery. He has yet to practice since the surgery. https://t.co/rYF2wfE390
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) September 17, 2026
Taken together, the two updates raise the possibility of a divisional game played without McConkey on one sideline and Bowers on the other, a scenario that would reshape both passing games and plenty of fantasy lineups along with them.
Where McConkey stands
The Chargers listed McConkey as a non-participant with a rib injury on the team’s injury report open the week, and Thursday brought no change. Pro Football Talk’s Myles Simmons noted] that the receiver spent the session working off to the side rather than with his teammates.
Head coach Jim Harbaugh had labeled McConkey “day-to-day” on Monday, according to the team’s website, one day after the third-year receiver left a 26-14 loss to Arizona and did not return.
The timing stung because McConkey had essentially been the passing game to that point. He had turned seven targets into five catches for 82 yards and a touchdown, before exiting in the third quarter with what was initially described as a chest injury.
His 8-yard scoring catch with 6:03 left in the third quarter pulled Los Angeles within 16-14, and the Chargers did not score again.
Those seven targets accounted for 25.9 percent of Justin Herbert’s 27 pass attempts. Herbert finished 17 of 27 for 209 yards with one touchdown and one interception while taking three sacks, and no other Chargers wide receiver topped 20 yards.
The opener had looked like the start of a rebound for the 24-year-old in Mike McDaniel’s offense. McConkey’s production slipped in 2025 to 66 catches for 789 yards and six touchdowns on 106 targets after he posted 82 catches for 1,149 yards and seven scores as a rookie, per Pro Football Reference.
Who is next in the Chargers’ target tree
Los Angeles has already started preparing for life without him. The club moved Gary Jennings onto the active roster and added veteran Marquez Valdes-Scantling to the practice squad.
Expect Quentin Johnston and second-year receiver Tre’ Harris to pick up most of the slack. Neither did much with his chances in Week 1.
Johnston and Harris each drew six targets against Arizona, but Johnston finished with two catches for 17 yards and Harris with three for 20, a combined 37 yards on 12 looks.
The most efficient option outside of McConkey was tight end David Njoku, who caught all five of his targets for 58 yards in his first game with the Chargers, while Oronde Gadsden added two catches for 32 yards.
If McConkey sits, the more likely outcome is a committee in which Johnston, Harris and the two tight ends split the vacated work, rather than one player inheriting a quarter of the targets outright.
Bowers still has not practiced since surgery
The Raiders have been navigating the same problem for more than a week. Bowers underwent a procedure described as a meniscus trim on Sept. 8 after the knee issue surfaced during training camp, and initial reports pegged his absence at one to two games.
Head coach Klint Kubiak declined to attach a timeline to the recovery before the opener.
“We’ll get him back soon,” Kubiak said.
Kubiak moved Bowers to day-to-day on Monday, according to ESPN, but the tight end has now gone Wednesday and Thursday without taking the practice field, leaving Friday as his last chance to log a session before the game.
Las Vegas did not need him in Week 1. The Raiders beat Miami 27-13 behind a run-heavy script, handing the ball off 37 times against 30 pass attempts.
Kirk Cousins went 21 of 30 for 160 yards with three touchdowns and two interceptions, and Ashton Jeanty did the heavy lifting with 23 carries for 102 yards while catching all six of his targets for 45 yards and two scores.
Michael Mayer, stepping into Bowers’ role, led the team with seven targets and turned them into six catches for 32 yards. Jeanty appeared on this week’s report with an ankle issue but was a full participant Wednesday.
What Las Vegas is missing is not in question. Bowers, the No. 13 pick in 2024, caught 112 passes for 1,194 yards as a rookie and added 64 catches for 680 yards and seven touchdowns in a 2025 season that injuries cut to 12 games, per Simmons.
What comes next
Both teams will issue final injury reports with game designations Friday, which should settle McConkey’s status and reveal whether Bowers gets on the field at all this week.
Kickoff is set for 1:05 p.m. PT Sunday at SoFi Stadium. The Chargers are trying to avoid an 0-2 start with both losses at home, while the Raiders arrive 1-0 having already shown they can win without their best pass catcher.
Fantasy read
McConkey managers should plan to sit him unless he practices Friday, because a receiver who has not worked all week is a poor bet for a full workload even if he is active. His 25.9 percent target share does not transfer cleanly.
Johnston and Harris each saw six looks in Week 1 and combined for 37 yards, which makes both volume-based flex plays rather than locks.
Njoku, five for five for 58 yards, is the sharper streaming option and a reasonable waiver claim in deeper leagues, while Jennings and Valdes-Scantling are watch-list names only.
On the Raiders’ side, hold Bowers as a bench stash until he practices. Mayer’s team-high seven targets make him a viable start at a thin position, and Jeanty’s 29 touches and two receiving scores lock him in as a weekly start regardless of Bowers’ status.
