Omarion Hampton reveals injury update that explains much about playoff disaster

Los Angeles Chargers rookie running back Omarion Hampton perplexed onlookers during his team’s wild-card round playoff loss to the New England Patriots.

After battling back from an ankle injury for a number of weeks and getting the green light to play, Hampton appeared in just a handful of snaps and rushed just one time in the 16-3 loss.

At exit interviews, Hampton explained what went down.

Hampton told ESPN’s Kris Rhim that the medical staff pulled him from the game after just two snaps and that the rookie wanted to keep powering through it: "You always want to help your team out when you end up situation, those type of games. So I mean, just trying to do everything I can to get back on the field."

Kudos goes to the coaching staff for pulling a player from such an important game due to injury concerns, at least.

Hampton had felt like a 50-50 shot at all to play, regardless. An ankle injury cost him a chunk of his rookie season, then he suffered this newer setback after returning from injured reserve.

As Rhim showed, Hampton's first carry is what seemed to alert the medical staff:

His only carry pic.twitter.com/Nakf7lW24m
— Kris Rhim (@krisrhim1) January 13, 2026

Zooming out, it’s hard to imagine Hampton being on the field would have done much to change the outcome of the game in Foxboro, anyway.

That’s not a shot at Hampton: The offense was so ill-prepared for the game that coordinator Greg Roman wound up getting fired days later. Kimani Vidal, who had filled in just fine as a bellcow back when Hampton was out, could only gain 31 yards on 11 attempts, a 2.8 average.

Never really able to shake the injury bug consistently and playing behind an offensive line that lost its two top tackles and had bad play on the interior, Hampton finished his rookie year with nine appearances, rushing 124 times for 545 yards and four scores on a 4.4 average. He also caught 32 of 35 targets with one score through the air.

Now more accustomed to the pro game and not needing to worry about the draft process, Hampton gets to return next season as the lead back behind what should be a healthy offensive line and a fresh face directing the offense.

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