Official: Chargers Injury Report Confirms Clash of Titans in Browns Game

It was in question if the Los Angeles Chargers would have to face Cleveland Browns edge rusher, Myles Garrett this Sunday when the two teams face off at 10 am PST. But it was made official when the teams released their final injury reports Friday afternoon; Garrett would play against the Bolts despite nursing several lower-body injuries since Week 2 of the season, most recently and in a nagging fashion, an Achilles injury.

Chargers, Slater Takes on Garrett This Week In Cleveland

Syndication: The Columbus Dispatch
Kareem Elgazzar/The Enquirer / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Garrett moves around the defensive line a bit but primarily lines up on the right side of the defensive line, which makes his impending meeting with Rashawn Slater a Clash of Titans. Slater has allowed just six pressures this season, while Garrett is averaging 4.5 pressures per game. He has the ninth most pressures, even in his diminished state.

The saving grace for Slater and, more so, Justin Herbert and the Chargers offense as a whole is that Garrett has struggled to turn those pressures into hits and sacks. He has just four sacks and five QB hits. Most have resulted in hurries, with 27 he has the fourth most in the league.

NFL: Los Angeles Chargers at Arizona Cardinals
Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images

The two faced off in Slater’s rookie season of 2021. In that Week 5 game, Garrett came out on top, racking up seven pressures, four hurries, two hits, and one sack. Slater topped the team allowing four pressures and two sacks.

The Chargers and Browns teams met again almost exactly a year later, but Slater missed that game. Garrett had another five pressures in that game.

It would be disingenuous to say that Slater hasn’t improved since his rookie season, making this matchup all the more important. Slater is off to the best year of his career — already fairing well against some of the league’s best — Maxx Crosby, TJ Watt, and Nick Bonitto, allowing a total of two pressures in those two games.

NFL: Kansas City Chiefs at Los Angeles Chargers
Kirby Lee-Imagn Images