If there's one thing people who don't know about football learned about the sport after watching The Blind Side starring Sandra Bullock, it's that a quarterback needs his left tackle. Los Angeles Chargers QB Justin Herbert, for all his amazing talents, is no exception to that rule.

Herbert's left tackle, Rashawn Slater, suffered a bicep injury that was feared to be season-ending. The Pro Bowl LT was slated to have surgery early in the coming week which, per NFL insider Ian Rapoport, often takes up to four months of recovery. That intersects with the bulk of the NFL season and wouldn't be shocking if they considered him out of commission this year. But the latest report indicates that they're eyeing his recovery later on in the campaign and potentially for a postseason run.

Via Rapoport:

“While the initial thought publicly was that the blindside protector for quarterback Justin Herbert would be out for the season, that now might not be the case.

The Chargers placed Slater on injured reserve earlier in the week, however a team has eight slots per season for players it can return from IR, and sources say Los Angeles is keeping one open for Slater.”

Injuries haven't exactly been kind to the Chargers with Joey Bosa also missing extended time with a groin injury. Even Justin Herbert had been banged up with a rib injury but is starting to look more comfortable playing through it.

The Chargers have a surplus of talent and can matchup with anyone in the league when healthy. But that's starting to look like a big “if” early on in the season.