COSTA MESA — Chargers running back Austin Ekeler sounded unsure about what comes next when he spoke to reporters earlier this week, only a few days after Coach Brandon Staley and General Manager Tom Telesco were fired and replaced on an interim basis by Giff Smith and JoJo Wooden.
Yes, Ekeler understood the Chargers had three games remaining in their lost 2023 season. No, he didn’t know what might happen after their final game.
What was certain, as he saw it, was that there was much to prove, and many questions that must be answered between now and the season finale against the reigning Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs either Jan. 6 or 7, thanks to the NFL’s flexible schedule, at SoFi Stadium.
“Mainly prove to myself because that’s what it ultimately comes down to is the decision of ‘OK, are you going to keep playing?’” Ekeler said during a candid conversation. “Do I still think I can? Do I want to? Am I still invested in this? So, it’s proving to myself that I can still play at a high level.
“It’s been tough, but not necessarily to the point where I’m like, ‘Ah, I want to be done playing.’ I’m still invested in this team or I’m still committed to this team for this contract. After this year, it’s a little different because I’m not under contract anymore. So now, what’s the situation that’s popping up?
“It’s that something I want to put myself into or not?”
Ekeler, a free agent at the end of this season, stressed that he would be “really selective about where I play next year.”
Flashing back to the offseason, he believed he was due for a contract extension after leading the NFL in touchdowns with 18 in the 2022 season and 20 in 2021. He thought he earned a longer and bigger payday, but he and several other running backs around the league didn’t get it.
In May, the Chargers gave him a $1.75 million contract sweetener in the form of incentives for the final year of his deal, but not the multi-year extension he sought.
But now Telesco is gone and Ekeler is still here.
For at least the next three games, anyway.
Who knows whether he’ll remain with the Chargers for next season?
Or whether he’ll play elsewhere?
Ekeler, 28, isn’t likely to match his statistics of last season. A badly sprained right ankle in the season opener has limited him to 506 yards rushing and six touchdowns overall, including five on the ground in 11 games. He had 915 yards and 13 touchdowns rushing last season while playing all 17 games.
“It’s something you have to prove,” he said. “Me? I know I’m still that player.”
It could be difficult to evaluate anyone on the Chargers’ roster or their coaching staff over the final three games. After all, quarterback Justin Herbert, center Corey Linsley and wide receiver Mike Williams are sidelined for the rest of the season because of significant injuries or illnesses.
Plus, Staley and Telesco were fired only hours after the Chargers fell to 5-9 with an embarrassing 63-21 loss to the rival Raiders last Thursday night in Las Vegas, their fifth defeat in their past six games. Mathematically, they’re still alive in the highly competitive AFC playoff race, but realistically, not so much.
That doesn’t mean there’s nothing at stake when the Chargers play the Buffalo Bills, Denver Broncos and the Chiefs in the final weeks of the season. Ekeler, like many of his current Chargers teammates, must continue to show he is worthy of a job and a paycheck for next season and, perhaps, beyond.
Many people will be watching, including the Chargers and plenty of other teams around the NFL.
“I have no idea what’s going on with this organization,” Ekeler said when asked if these could be his final days and final games with the Chargers, the only NFL team for which he has played during his 100-game career. “We have an interim GM, right? The GM who brought me in is no longer here, so I have no idea.
“But right now, it’s kind of like this is a new team almost, so to speak, when it comes to next year with the GM. It might be a guy who likes someone like me and they need a guy like me on the team with what they’re trying to do. It might be someone who’s like, ‘Nah, we don’t want Austin anymore.’”