{"id":35235,"date":"2025-11-03T00:40:14","date_gmt":"2025-11-03T00:40:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/35235\/"},"modified":"2025-11-03T00:40:14","modified_gmt":"2025-11-03T00:40:14","slug":"chargers-defeat-titans-but-joe-alts-ankle-injury-raises-concerns","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/35235\/","title":{"rendered":"Chargers defeat Titans, but Joe Alt’s ankle injury raises concerns"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

NASHVILLE\u00a0\u2014\u00a0The Chargers<\/a> won the battle but lost the warrior.<\/p>\n

They held off the Tennessee Titans 27-20<\/a> but saw their outstanding left tackle, Joe Alt,<\/a> go down with the same injured ankle that sidelined him earlier this season<\/a>.<\/p>\n

It was a troubling and ominous blow to a franchise that\u2019s in a constant state of reshuffling its offensive line and unable to sufficiently protect quarterback Justin Herbert<\/a>. Before losing Alt, the Chargers lost lineman Bobby Hart to an injured groin and lower leg. <\/p>\n

The status of both Alt and Hart is unclear but neither returned to the game. It\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t know about deflating, but it\u2019s tough to see,\u201d right tackle Trey Pipkins III said. \u201cOur room is resilient \u2014 we\u2019re always going to pick it up. What we\u2019ve gone through earlier in the season helps. Experience always helps.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Chargers <\/p>\n

Chargers coach Jim Harbaugh helps offensive tackle Bobby Hart off the field in the first half.<\/p>\n

(John Amis \/ Associated Press)<\/p>\n

On a cool and overcast day, the Chargers had enough to get past the one-win Titans \u2014 the Chargers were favored by 9\u00bd points \u2014 but will face far stiffer competition in the second half of the season. The Titans haven\u2019t won at home since last Nov. 3.<\/p>\n

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\u2019s leading rusher, prompting Chargers coach Jim Harbaugh<\/a> to compare him to Hall of Fame running back Larry Csonka in the way he lowers his shoulder and blasts through would-be tacklers.<\/p>\n

As for the team as a whole?<\/p>\n

\u201cDug deep, found a way,\u201d Harbaugh said. \u201cJust a gritty, great win \u2014 probably the highlight is finding a way.\u201d<\/p>\n

Part of that path was the defense turning back the Titans on the half-yard line in the third quarter, and the Chargers\u2019 offense responding with a nine-minute, 99\u00bd-yard touchdown drive that took all of the gusto out of Nissan Stadium.<\/p>\n

\"Chargers <\/p>\n

Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert is sacked by Tennessee Titans linebacker Jihad Ward during the second half Sunday.<\/p>\n

(George Walker IV \/ Associated Press)<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey got in a wildcat, so I knew they were going to run the ball,\u201d Chargers safety Elijah Molden said. \u201cIt\u2019s something you rep a lot in practice, but you don\u2019t think it\u2019ll happen in a game, and then it does.\u201d<\/p>\n

It was a masterful performance by a Chargers\u2019 defense that held the home team to a mere field goal in the second half \u2014 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.<\/p>\n

Right in the middle of that defensive performance was Chargers linebacker Daiyan Henley<\/a>, 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.<\/p>\n

\"Chargers <\/p>\n

Chargers linebacker Daiyan Henley, left, tries to tackle Titans wide receiver Van Jefferson during the first half Sunday.<\/p>\n

(George Walker IV \/ Associated Press)<\/p>\n

\u201cI thought I was late for a meeting or something,\u201d said Henley, closing his eyes and speaking softly and slowly. \u201cI was shocked, thinking about football. He just told me, \u2018Call your mom.\u2019 So I called my mom and got the news.\u201d<\/p>\n

Henley\u2019s older brother, Jabari Henley, had been shot and killed<\/a> on Halloween night in the Vermont-Slauson neighborhood of Los Angeles.<\/p>\n

\u201cBeing transparent, I dropped to my knees,\u201d Henley said. \u201cFor me, this is by far the biggest and most devastating thing that\u2019s ever happened to me. I\u2019ve lost friends and family before, but to be this close to home … it\u2019s just a difficult thing to deal with.\u201d<\/p>\n

Although they were separated by nine years, Daiyan said 34-year-old Jabari was his best friend.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m a hard-to-reach person, but there are a few people I\u2019d answer the phone for no matter what, or call back at least, and that was my big brother,\u201d Henley said. \u201cI\u2019ve got two big brothers. We share the same mom, same dad, from birth, same household. That was my best friend.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019d call him my protector. He was the protector of our family. So it was a big loss.\u201d<\/p>\n

The patriarch of the family is Eugene \u201cBig U\u201d 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<\/a> in a wide-reaching criminal case.<\/p>\n

As for Daiyan Henley, he\u2019s among the most popular and friendliest Chargers players, well-liked by teammates and the media. When he collected one of his team\u2019s four sacks Sunday, he dropped to his knees in prayer.<\/p>\n

\u201cI just wanted to be there for him every step because. … Man, I don\u2019t even know,\u201d teammate Derwin James Jr. said. \u201cThat kid\u2019s been through so much. He\u2019s our green dot [signifying the on-field play caller wearing the helmet radio], our leader, our captain.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor him to go out there and battle \u2014 that\u2019s 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\u2019s our brother.\u201d<\/p>\n

Henley said it never crossed his mind to sit out Sunday.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe only thing crossing my mind was rage. I had a lot of pain. A lot of pain.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs big as this was, I just started thinking about everything that\u2019s been going on in my life. I just wanted to \u2014 not say anything crazy \u2014 but I just wanted to go out there and let it out. Whatever I had inside, I wanted to get it out.<\/p>\n

\u201cI talked to my mom, I talked to my father, and they both said I should definitely go out there and play. So that\u2019s what I did.<\/p>\n

\u201cNow I just need to get back home.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"NASHVILLE\u00a0\u2014\u00a0The Chargers won the battle but lost the warrior. They held off the Tennessee Titans 27-20 but saw…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":35236,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[10950,25037,1535,11153,423,25036,16943,11490,48,52,51,47,50,49,4226,21271,20790,278,19828,430,1539],"class_list":["post-35235","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-los-angeles","tag-ankle-injury","tag-charger","tag-chargers","tag-first-half","tag-game","tag-good-player","tag-herbert","tag-joe-alt","tag-la","tag-la-headlines","tag-la-news","tag-los-angeles","tag-los-angeles-headlines","tag-los-angeles-news","tag-minnesota","tag-offensive-line","tag-pair","tag-season","tag-titans","tag-week","tag-yard"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35235","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=35235"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35235\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/35236"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=35235"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=35235"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=35235"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}