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Chargers Defense Needs Derwin James to Function

The safety is vital to the defense.

The Chargers injury report heading into Sunday is short, but one important name was safety Derwin James. He was limited in practice but will play this Sunday against the Denver Broncos.

This week he was limited in practice each day but was moving well on the practice field in the portion open to the media. Chargers head coach Brandon Staley said that James will not be on a snap count and is a full go.

This weekend’s game is a must-win for the Chargers. In a must-win, you want your best players on the field, which means James leading the defense.

A sad reality is that the Chargers have faced not only in the last three games, but the last two seasons is how important James is to them and how they struggle without him.

He has been nursing that hamstring injury since the Friday before the New York Giants game. He tried to play against the Chiefs but was finally taken out after the first drive in the second half.

“Different in every way,” Staley said when asked how different a game is without his all-pro safety.

James is the heart and soul of this team.

The Chargers defense held it together against the Giants but gave up a 60-yard reception to tight end Kyle Rudolph.

The following week against Kansas City, once James went out, tight end Travis Kelce went off for a 60-yard reception and a game-winning 34-yard touchdown to win it.

“It’s definitely hard to replace when Derwin’s not out there,” defensive coordinator Renaldo Hill said. “He’s obviously the vocal leader, as well as the alpha guy in the huddle. His presence was definitely missed last week.”

Their matchup against the Texans really showed how dependent the team is on James. They could not stop the passing attack of Davis Mills or the rushing bulldozer Rex Burkhead. They combined to score four touchdowns against the defense.

It was an overall bad look for the defense that led to an embarrassing loss to Houston.

Everything seemed to go wrong for a defense that was missing their leader.

“He’s a force at every level, so he can communicate to the guys up front things that they may need checks on or anticipate,” Hill explained. “Same thing at the linebacker level. Then, in the back end, he can communicate what they’re doing on those down-and-distances, just trying to help everybody at each level because he is so in tune with the gameplan.”

James has been everything for the Chargers defense.

This weekend, they face the Broncos offense that features two running backs in Javonte Williams and Melvin Gordon, plus tight end Noah Fant. The defense needs their leader to get everyone set and for them to have a fighting chance for the playoffs.

“He is a quarterback for our team,” Staley said about his safety. “What he does for our team, on the field as a player, and certainly for our defense, what Derwin does is he makes everything better because he can be a lot of different places. He can really cover-up for some holes, for some weaknesses.”

Nuts N’ Bolts

· Injury report. Doubtful: LB Drue Tranquill (ankle).

· If kicker Dustin Hopkins can’t clear COVID protocols then Tristan Vizcaino will be elevated to handle kickoffs and field goals on Sunday.

· Both right tackle options Storm Norton and Trey Pipkins are on the COVID list. If neither can clear Staley said that Brenden Jaimes or Matt Feiler are options.