Austin Ekeler hasn’t been on the field very much this season. He played in Week 1, but injured his ankle during the game and hasn’t played since. There have been frustratingly few updates about his ankle and his status for Week 4 is still up in the air, but there’s reason to be positive: his rehab is moving in the right direction.
During his weekly “Ekeler’s Edge” podcast on the Yahoo Fantasy Football Show, the Los Angeles Chargers running back shared a quick but encouraging update about his health, revealing as much as he could without being too specific.
Us as players, we do the most to make sure that, OK, hey, I’m doing everything to get back. So just know that, that is going on behind the scenes. I’m doing everything I can to get back, and be healthy, and not have any major setbacks. So there’s a cadence to this thing and I can’t go too fast, too slow, but just know I’m efficiently moving towards getting my a** back on the field.
Ekeler said on last week’s podcast that his injury, an ankle sprain, wasn’t an “out for several months type of thing,” but would be managed day-to-day and week-to-week. NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero reported on Monday that Ekeler is “hopeful” he’ll be able to take the field in Week 4 against the Las Vegas Raiders, but with the Chargers’ bye coming in Week 5, it’s possible they keep him out against Vegas so he can have that extra week to heal up and rehab.
Ekeler was expected to be a massive fantasy player this season, especially after his monster 2022 season: a career-high 915 rushing yards and 13 touchdowns on the ground, plus 722 yards and five touchdowns in the air. He looked great after Week 1, with 117 rushing yards and a touchdown plus 47 receiving yards on four catches.
