Jim Harbaugh and the Los Angeles Chargers are still second in the AFC West but their season is slowly going downhill. They endured their first loss of the season to the Justin Fields-led Pittsburgh Steelers. But, the bad news did not stop there for the squad from the West Coast. The NFL has decided to deliver a commensurate punishment for Derwin James Jr. amid his actions on the field.
Jim Harbaugh is not going to have Derwin James Jr. in the Chargers rotation come Week 4, per Adam Schefter of ESPN. The lethal defender is going to be suspended after continuously violating the league's rules intended to protect the health and safety of players. His actions towards Justin Fields and the Steelers in Week 3 were cited in the suspension too.
This means that the Chargers are not going to have their sack artist when they face the Patrick Mahomes-led Kansas City Chiefs.
Was Derwin James Jr. any good in the Chargers' loss to the Steelers?
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Well, he was one of the few who cut the offensive momentum of Justin Fields and Co. James Jr. was able to sack the Steelers quarterback once to knock the wind out of him. He then followed it up by making life hell for any offensive weapon that he came across. By the end of this Week 3 matchup, he had amassed five combined tackles with three of them being solo takedowns.
Understandably, a player of his caliber would like to force a fumble or a tackle for loss which is why they hit hard. However, it can get a little bit too much at times. Now, Jim Harbaugh has to find new answers for when they blitz their opponents. Thankfully, Khalil Mack has shown a lot of promise in that aspect of the game. He was the only other member of the Chargers who recorded a sack against Fields.
