The Los Angeles Chargers are 0-2 to begin the 2023 season and to make matters worse, Austin Ekeler will miss his second game in a row on Sunday against the Minnesota Vikings due to an ankle injury.

While the Bolts decided not to place their star running back on the IR, head coach Brandon Staley didn't exactly sound convinced that Ekeler would be back anytime soon when speaking to reporters Friday.

Via Pro Football Talk:

“He’s working hard to get back,” Staley said. “We’ll see how it goes here in the next few weeks.”

In the next few weeks. Yikes. If he's going to miss another three games after Week 3, might as well have put him on the IR. Brutal news for the Chargers. Ekeler balled out in Week 1 before getting hurt in the fourth quarter versus the Miami Dolphins, rushing 117 yards on 16 carries including a touchdown. He also had four catches for 47 yards. Losing the 28-year-old is such a massive blow for Justin Herbert's offense.

Speaking earlier this week on his podcast, Austin Ekeler shed light on the ankle issue. Via Yahoo Sports:

“Dealing with the ankle. I’ve dealt with ankles in the past,” Ekeler said. “You’ve just got to get it to a point where you feel good, where it’s taped up and you can actually feel like, ‘If I get tackled, it’s not going to be re-aggravated and set me back to where I was before, where I could barely walk on it.’

“It’s not something that’s going to be like, ‘Ah, he’s out for several months’ type of thing. It’s a day-to-day, week-to-week situation. I like the progress that I’ve made so far. Hopefully back sooner than later.”

Joshua Kelley will get the start Sunday in place of Ekeler. Hopefully, he can make up for the loss of production after a poor Week 2 showing.