Jim Harbaugh’s Mad at a Punter But the Chargers Have Much Bigger Problems

The Los Angeles Chargers got blown out of the water during the preseason loss to the San Francisco 49ers.

Exiting the humbling, one of the bigger talking points was Chargers head coach Jim Harbaugh taking aim at punter JK Scott.

Scott allowed a touchdown return by the 49ers on a poor all-around play from the unit, capped off with a whiff from the punter himself:

JACOB COWING WITH THE 83-YARD PUNT RETURN TD 🏠

SFvsLAC on @nflnetwork
Stream on @NFLPlus pic.twitter.com/BUV9YE8LyF
— NFL (@NFL) August 21, 2026

“The punt was short and in the middle, and then we got out-flanked,” Harbaugh said. “No, he’s got to have a plan when he’s in that position to make the tackle. Something we need to work on, coach up.”

A terrible all-around day for the Chargers, no doubt, but considering the other big problem, the punter mistake that resembles the day as a whole is the least of Harbaugh’s worries right now.

Chargers have major problems

Deja vu time: The interior of the offensive line is a problem.

One year removed from the Mekhi Becton disaster and years of Bradley Bozeman, the Chargers are a mess up front for Justin Herbert yet again.

The Tyler Biadasz injury didn’t help, obviously. He was supposed to be the veteran lynchpin in the middle. Now, rookie Jake Slaughter, the guy drafted to transition to guard, will stick at center and start there.

Things…didn’t go all that great. Granted, Herbert played three snaps and the offense is vanilla. But the college center going through growing pains was obvious.

More concerning is actually guard. At the left spot, it’s going to be veteran journeyman Kayode Awosika or Branson Taylor, a former practice squad member last year who has enjoyed a strong summer.

Nobody at the left guard spot really looked that great. And at right guard, where former mid-tier starter Cole Strange sits after coming over via free agency…didn’t look all that hot either:

Look at this 4 straight play sequence by RG Cole Strange man… https://t.co/DtWyZKZYNt pic.twitter.com/xQmXGlX0YB
— Carter Donnick (@CDonnick1) August 21, 2026

The Chargers are too far into things right now to magically go out and find more starting-caliber competition at guard. And with Biadasz out, center and the depth behind Slaughter are actually an even bigger concern.

So, once again, the Chargers have perhaps the best offensive tackle duo in the NFL with Joe Alt and Rashawn Slater. But Slater is dealing with an injury and how many reps he’ll see before the season remains to be seen. And having that duo is great, but they can only do so much if the interior is a weak point yet again.

Fair game on Harbaugh for calling out a punter who probably should have had even more heat on him for a roster spot earlier this offseason. But the organization's repeated lazy efforts on the interior of the offensive line while hoarding cap space could come back to bite them in a way that even the hyped Mike McDaniel can’t save.

Sign Up For the Chargers Daily Digest - OnSI’s Free Los Angeles Chargers Newsletter

Add us as a preferred source on Google