NASHVILLE — The Chargers won the battle but lost the warrior.
They held off the Tennessee Titans 27-20 but saw their outstanding left tackle, Joe Alt, go down with the same injured ankle that sidelined him earlier this season.
It was a troubling and ominous blow to a franchise that’s in a constant state of reshuffling its offensive line and unable to sufficiently protect quarterback Justin Herbert. Before losing Alt, the Chargers lost lineman Bobby Hart to an injured groin and lower leg.
The status of both Alt and Hart is unclear but neither returned to the game. It’s not a good sign for Herbert, who was hit 11 times and sacked six times by the Titans after entering Sunday as the most-hit and harassed quarterback in the NFL.
“I don’t know about deflating, but it’s tough to see,” right tackle Trey Pipkins III said. “Our room is resilient — we’re always going to pick it up. What we’ve gone through earlier in the season helps. Experience always helps.”
Chargers coach Jim Harbaugh helps offensive tackle Bobby Hart off the field in the first half.
(John Amis / Associated Press)
On a cool and overcast day, the Chargers had enough to get past the one-win Titans — the Chargers were favored by 9½ points — but will face far stiffer competition in the second half of the season. The Titans haven’t won at home since last Nov. 3.
Herbert overcame a pick-six on his second snap of the day to throw for two touchdowns and run for a third. He was the game’s leading rusher, prompting Chargers coach Jim Harbaugh to compare him to Hall of Fame running back Larry Csonka in the way he lowers his shoulder and blasts through would-be tacklers.
As for the team as a whole?
“Dug deep, found a way,” Harbaugh said. “Just a gritty, great win — probably the highlight is finding a way.”
Part of that path was the defense turning back the Titans on the half-yard line in the third quarter, and the Chargers’ offense responding with a nine-minute, 99½-yard touchdown drive that took all of the gusto out of Nissan Stadium.
Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert is sacked by Tennessee Titans linebacker Jihad Ward during the second half Sunday.
(George Walker IV / Associated Press)
That entailed no-gain stuffs on a third and goal and fourth and goal from the one. The first was a wildcat snap to running back Tony Pollard, and the second a Pollard run up the gut.
“They got in a wildcat, so I knew they were going to run the ball,” Chargers safety Elijah Molden said. “It’s something you rep a lot in practice, but you don’t think it’ll happen in a game, and then it does.”
It was a masterful performance by a Chargers’ defense that held the home team to a mere field goal in the second half — and those two touchdowns in the first half came on a pick-six and a punt return. The Titans converted one of nine third downs.
Right in the middle of that defensive performance was Chargers linebacker Daiyan Henley, who was gripped by grief. Because the team traveled to Tennessee on Friday, Henley was in the team hotel at 6 a.m. Saturday morning when he was awakened by a knock on his door from fellow linebacker Denzel Perryman.
Chargers linebacker Daiyan Henley, left, tries to tackle Titans wide receiver Van Jefferson during the first half Sunday.
(George Walker IV / Associated Press)
“I thought I was late for a meeting or something,” said Henley, closing his eyes and speaking softly and slowly. “I was shocked, thinking about football. He just told me, ‘Call your mom.’ So I called my mom and got the news.”
Henley’s older brother, Jabari Henley, had been shot and killed on Halloween night in the Vermont-Slauson neighborhood of Los Angeles.
“Being transparent, I dropped to my knees,” Henley said. “For me, this is by far the biggest and most devastating thing that’s ever happened to me. I’ve lost friends and family before, but to be this close to home … it’s just a difficult thing to deal with.”
Although they were separated by nine years, Daiyan said 34-year-old Jabari was his best friend.
“I’m a hard-to-reach person, but there are a few people I’d answer the phone for no matter what, or call back at least, and that was my big brother,” Henley said. “I’ve got two big brothers. We share the same mom, same dad, from birth, same household. That was my best friend.
“I’d call him my protector. He was the protector of our family. So it was a big loss.”
The patriarch of the family is Eugene “Big U” Henley, a music producer who helped launch the career of the late Nipsey Hussle. The elder Henley is an accused Crips leader facing federal charges in a wide-reaching criminal case.
As for Daiyan Henley, he’s among the most popular and friendliest Chargers players, well-liked by teammates and the media. When he collected one of his team’s four sacks Sunday, he dropped to his knees in prayer.
“I just wanted to be there for him every step because. … Man, I don’t even know,” teammate Derwin James Jr. said. “That kid’s been through so much. He’s our green dot [signifying the on-field play caller wearing the helmet radio], our leader, our captain.
“For him to go out there and battle — that’s tough. I got so much respect for him, and I just wanted to play as hard as I can for him today. We just tried to rally around him. That’s our brother.”
Henley said it never crossed his mind to sit out Sunday.
“The only thing crossing my mind was rage. I had a lot of pain. A lot of pain.
“As big as this was, I just started thinking about everything that’s been going on in my life. I just wanted to — not say anything crazy — but I just wanted to go out there and let it out. Whatever I had inside, I wanted to get it out.
“I talked to my mom, I talked to my father, and they both said I should definitely go out there and play. So that’s what I did.
“Now I just need to get back home.”