Chargers news: Hunter Henry suffers season-ending knee injury during OTAs

The Los Angeles Chargers may have suffered a devastating blow to their offense with tight end Hunter Henry going down with a torn ACL during OTAs.

The Los Angeles Chargers have suffered a major blow to their hopes of being one of the best offenses in the NFL during the 2018 campaign.

During a drill during OTAs for the Chargers, up-and-coming tight end Hunter Henry went down with a non-contact injury. As non-contact injuries usually are, it has turned out to be serious and season-ending, according to ESPN's Adam Schefter.

Stunner from LA: Chargers’ TE Hunter Henry suffered a season-ending torn ACL today, per league source. Did it during a drill, running downfield, untouched. Second opinion coming Wednesday.

— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) May 23, 2018

Henry is arguably one of the most promising tight ends in the league today and coming off a solid season in which he quickly became one of Philip Rivers' favorite targets in the Chargers offense.

With Henry now done for the season pending a second opinion, the Chargers brass will be forced to at least consider bringing back veteran Antonio Gates for another season.

With Chargers’ TE Hunter Henry tearing his ACL, Chargers will have to consider bringing back Antonio Gates.

— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) May 23, 2018

Gates was recently informed by the team that he would not be brought back for the 2018 NFL season. Although Gates has been available on the open market since the Chargers decided to part ways with the future Hall of Famer, he has yet to sign with another team nor has any news or rumors surfaced about potential informed from another squad.

As for Henry, this is a sizable setback for a player that was expected to take another step closer to being one of the best tight ends in the game. Last year, Hunter caught a career-high 45 passes for 579 receiving yards and four touchdowns.

Although Henry saw the end zone four times less than he did in his rookie season (8), the Arkansas product was well on his way to becoming Gates' long-term replacement. Now the team will have to consider their options for 2018 and potentially bring back the soon-to-be 38-year-old for another season in Los Angeles.