Chargers News: Star RB Austin Ekeler Reveals Unsettling Opinion on Brandon Staley

Really not a good situation.

After your Los Angeles Chargers lost another tough game, this time a 31-17 bummer on the road to the Kansas City Chiefs, and fell to 2-4 on the 2023 season, the amount of questions about what this team should do and the direction they're headed in have reached an all-time high in the Justin Herbert/Brandon Staley era. 

LA head coach Brandon Staley has been on the hot seat for quite some time, dating back to their Wild Card loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars where they blew a 27-0 lead. 

It's safe to say Staley should now be in a seat of scalding temperature, as the Chargers now have just a 13% chance of making the playoffs, despite having one of the highest payrolls in the league and a star quarterback. 

Let's see what star running back Austin Ekeler had to say about his head coach:

Clearly, Ekeler is not a fan of Staley at all, presumably blaming him for the situation they're currently in. 

To make matters worse, Ekeler is on a contract year, and has no incentive to return to the team assuming Staley remains the coach entering next season. 

Normally, players will always support their coaches, absent something egregious happening behind the scenes. Given that we're yet to hear anything of that nature happening, it may be safe to deduce that Ekeler has simply developed a dislike for Staley due to the team's subpar performances, ranging back to his inaugural 2021 campaign. 

As I've written before, there's no clear direction as to where this team should go. They have limited cap space, an aging defense, and a clearly poor coaching situation.

Promoting offensive coordinator Kellen Moore after firing Staley seems like a decent first step, but there are certainly deeper-rooted issues than just the coaching. The Chargers have some of the worst roster construction in the NFL, some of the largest contracts for no reason, and one of the highest defensive payrolls in the NFL in spite of their poor performance. 

Ekeler's clear angst towards the organization is worth monitoring, as we have no idea what it means for the Chargers moving forward.

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