Rashawn Slater injury update: Latest news on Los Angeles Chargers OT for NFL playoffs

Los Angeles Chargers offensive tackle Rashawn Slater is battling a mysterious injury ahead of Saturday’s NFL playoff encounter with the Houston Texans.

Slater was a surprise inactive during the Chargers’ regular season finale win over the New England Patriots, which caused a major shuffle on the offensive line in front of Justin Herbert just before kickoff.

Below, we’ll provide a running list of Slater injury updates before kickoff in the playoff game.

Rashawn Slater injury update

The Chargers listed Slater as limited on the first injury report before the playoff game.

The path so far…

Chargers coach Jim Harbaugh revealed that Slater would have an MRI this week before the playoff game. Slater battled an injury earlier in the season but still appeared in 15 games.

What it means…

Slater opening the week by practicing with a brace on suggests he’ll play against the Texans, which is good. He’s one of the NFL’s best, obviously. When he was scratched from the season finale, the entire line got a massive shakeup, with rookie Joe Alt swinging from right tackle to left tackle on short notice. Jamaree Salyer took over at right guard and Trey Pipkins at right tackle, but the latter was carted off with an injury. That’s a long way of saying the Chargers need Slater on the field so they can roll out a normal lineup and not expose some thinning depth.