The Chargers will play their final regular-season games without linebacker Denzel Perryman after the NFL suspended him for two games for “repeated violations of playing rules intended to protect the health and safety of players, including during Sunday’s game against the Dallas Cowboys.”
Perryman was penalized for unnecessary roughness in the second quarter of the Chargers’ 34-17 victory over the Cowboys on Sunday in Arlington, Texas. He delivered a helmet-to-helmet hit to Dallas wide receiver Ryan Flournoy after Flournoy was lying prone on the turf after making a catch for a 13-yard gain.
Perryman will be banned from the Chargers’ game against the Houston Texans on Saturday at SoFi Stadium and their regular-season finale either Jan. 3 or 4 against the Broncos in Denver. He won’t be eligible to return to the team until Jan. 5 and could play in any and all postseason games to follow.
He can appeal his suspension, as is his right under the collective bargaining agreement. He also served a suspension after a similar hit on Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver Ja’Marr Chase while playing for the Texans during the 2023 season. Perryman is in his second season with the Chargers.
“I thought he was trying to go over the tackle and over the ballcarrier and, hopefully, that will be taken into consideration on appeal,” Chargers coach Jim Harbaugh said at his Monday session with beat reporters in El Segundo. “I think Denzel has done a good job, a great job, of trying to take the helmet out of his play, and I know he’ll continue to do that.”
Perryman has been a key figure in a stingy defense that has given up an average of only 15.8 points per game during a four-game winning streak. The Chargers have pitched second-half shutouts in back-to-back games, defensive-dominating victories over the Cowboys and the Kansas City Chiefs.
Troy Dye is the likeliest candidate to replace Perryman if Perryman’s appeal is denied. Perryman and fellow inside linebacker Daiyan Henley each had six combined tackles against the Cowboys, and Dye had three. Safety Tony Jefferson had a team-leading eight tackles against Dallas.
Jefferson was fined by the NFL for an illegal hit in the Chargers’ victory over the Chiefs.
GAINING CONTROL
The Chargers (11-4) matched their win total from the 2024 season, Harbaugh’s first as their coach, with their victory Sunday. Their victory combined with the AFC West-leading Broncos’ loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars gave the Chargers control of their destiny in their final two games.
If the Chargers defeat the Texans and the Broncos, then they would be division champions for the first time since 2009. A tie would give the Chargers the division title by virtue of winning both games against the Broncos. The Chargers are 5-0 against the division and 8-2 against the AFC.
“We’ve still got more work to do,” Chargers outside linebacker Khalil Mack said. “I’m not really focused on whether we saw it coming or not. It’s a matter of understanding where we’re at and getting ready for next week, celebrating this one (their victory Sunday) a little bit, but getting ready for the next one.”
UNDER THE RADAR
The Chargers were a trendy pick to advance to the Super Bowl before training camp began in 2022, but after their season ended with an epic second-half collapse in a wild-card loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars they have fallen out of the national conversation. Way, way out of it, as a matter of fact.
That’s fine with Mack.
“You could say it’s a good position to be in,” he said. “But, ultimately, we’re only focused on the group of guys we’ve got in our locker room and not worried about the outside noise. There’s been improvement, but like (Sunday), it took us being on point, you know what I mean? It took us being disciplined.”