Injuries to Bosa, Gilman, could pose challenges for defensive depth of Chargers

EL SEGUNDO, Calif. (AP) — Jesse Minter has made one thing clear in his first season as the Los Angeles Chargers’ defensive coordinator — the more players that can get snaps, the better it will be for his unit.

Injuries to two key starters could test Minter’s depth heading into the Chargers’ game Sunday at Carolina.

Linebacker Joey Bosa and safety Alohi Gilman did not practice on Thursday. Bosa was limited due to a back issue on Wednesday, while Gilman hasn’t practiced this week due to a knee injury.

Bosa tied for the team lead with seven tackles, including a sack and forced fumble in last week’s opener against the Las Vegas Raiders. Gilman was in for all but one of the Chargers’ 60 defensive plays and had four tackles.

Bosa and Khalil Mack had 2 1/2 of the Bolts four sacks of the Raiders’ Gardner Minshew.

“They drive the engine of our defense. The way they play, the physicality. Those guys keep doing it. I think they have a lot of fun out there,” Minter said.

The Chargers had 16 defensive players in for at least 20 snaps last Sunday in a 22-10 win over Las Vegas. Going into the second game, Minter would like to get at least 19 players up to at least 16 snaps.

“When we have multiple good players at a position, to me, they all need to play,” Minter said. “We were fresh when we needed to be able to close out the game, so that’s how we want to kind of play this game for a while.”

Three players rotated a middle linebacker. Denzel Perryman, Daiyan Henley and Junior Colson each alternated series where they had the helmet where they got plays from Minter and then called them in the huddle.

“I didn’t remember half the time who I was talking to,” Minter said. “They did a great job, we were really not able to have any communication issues. Kudos to those guys and how they played as well.”

It was the first time Henley and Colson had had the green dot helmet. Henley, who saw 41 snaps on Sunday, saw only 51 on defense as a rookie last season, while Colson is a rookie.

Mack said he was joking with Colson last week because he said a couple of things differently in the huddle compared to Perryman and Henley, but he thought Colson held his own.

Minter is also looking for opportunities to take advantage of the depth at edge rusher. That happened for three plays against the Raiders when Bosa, Mack, Tuli Tuipulotu and Bud Dupree were on the field at the same time.

Depending on Bosa’s status, Mack hopes to see that used more often.

“It was cool, but they threw a screen. It will be fun to get a pass rush out of that,” Mack said. “It speaks to the creativeness of the coaches. They are going to get the best out of every guy.”

Defensive end Morgan Fox, who was also on the field when all four edge rushers were playing, also lauded Minter’s creativity.

“When everyone’s eating and playing well, you’re a hard team to stop,” Fox said. “We are fortunate to have a ton of weapons and hopefully put our opponents in a bad position is a nice tool to have.”