It looks pretty certain that the Chargers will be going without Michael Badgley this week. They downgraded him to doubtful today on their injury report.
No roster move yet, so apparently they feel Badgley will heal before long.
For the Week 1 game against the Colts, they’re not signing a replacement kicker. Instead they’ll use punter Ty Long.
Long should function just fine in that role in the short term. He served as both a punt and kicker the last two years in the CFL for the BC Lions. He kicked well enough, in fact, that he could probably be a placekicker in the NFL if he wanted to go that route. He converted 88 percent of his field goals during his time in the CFL.
The Chargers are favored by a touchdown and playing at home. By that measure Long should be an above-average kicker in Week 1. But he hasn’t had much of a chance to practice in that role. And with the Chargers missing some key bodies – Russell Okung, Derwin James, Melvin Gordon – I don’t think they should be favored by 7.
—Ian Allan