Chargers announce late roster moves, surprise injury updates before Week 18

The Los Angeles Chargers were always going to make an interesting barrage of roster moves and injury updates before the Week 18 encounter with the Denver Broncos.

Jim Harbaugh’s Chargers, after all, had already made it clear that Justin Herbert and an assortment of other starters wouldn’t play in the season finale on the road against the Broncos.

The Chargers would rather have a rested Herbert and do the best they can to stay healthy for a playoff game. Too much of their eventual Round 1 playoff opponent is in the hands of other results around the NFL this weekend, anyway.

As such, the Chargers announced some roster moves and revealed some unexpected injury updates on Saturday before the game.

Chargers make late roster moves for Week 18

The Chargers dished a handful of roster moves before kickoff:

Chargers signed safety Marcus Maye to active roster from practice squad
Chargers placed cornerback Nikko Reed on injured reserve
Chargers elevated offensive lineman Branson Taylor and quarterback DJ Uiagalelei from the practice squad.

No great shockers here. The Chargers need more depth in the secondary with safety Elijah Molden dealing with an injury. That, plus simply wanting to stay as healthy as possible during an AFC West bout.

As for Uiagalelei, he’ll officially be the backup quarterback for the Chargers behind starter Trey Lance.

we’ve signed S marcus maye to the active roster + other roster moves ahead of #LACvsDEN

→ https://t.co/ZpskPuJvLK pic.twitter.com/SJBFdOuApy
— Los Angeles Chargers (@chargers) January 3, 2026

Chargers announce injury news

The Chargers announced some corresponding injury news alongside the roster moves:

Chargers announced safety Elijah Molden won’t travel with the team to Denver and is downgraded to out.
Chargers announced that linebacker Del’Shawn Phillips is now questionable for the game due to a hamstring injury.

File these under “abundance of caution” tags. They want Molden as good to go as possible for the playoffs, especially with RJ Mickens dealing with an injury.

Phillips is a stud on special teams, so anything at all popping up with him was bound to get him sat down. Similarly, the Chargers aren’t in a position to expose him to injury, even with linebacker depth already thin in Denver thanks to the Denzel Perryman suspension.

With Harbaugh already noting that plenty of starters will dress as backups on Sunday, the inactives list and depth chart should be a pretty interesting read before kickoff.

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