Los Angeles Chargers running back Austin Ekeler is having one of the worst seasons of his entire career, averaging a career-low 3.5 yards per carry so far this year. And it sounds like the team could look to give more carries to backup Joshua Kelley as a result of his recent struggles.
During a press conference this week, Los Angeles Chargers head coach Brandon Staley did not shy away from the suggestion that Joshua Kelley could see more carries amid the struggles from Austin Ekeler, replying “yeah” to a question regarding that situation before elaborating a little bit.
“Competition for carries is going to be something that you can see happening,” Staley said according to Pro Football Talk. “We’re going to keep exploring, making adjustments, so that we can find that rhythm that I’ve been talking about. That’s certainly one way to do it.”
This comes after Ekeler had a particularly brutal showing in a 6-0 win over the New England Patriots over the weekend where he managed just 14 carries for 18 yards on Sunday. We’ll have to see whether or not his production can improve throughout the rest of the season and how the team decides to split carries between him and Kelley going forward.
