Chargers offensive tackle Joe Alt gives a positive update on the status of his ankle injury from the 2025 season through the first week of training camp.
Through the first week of training camp, the Los Angeles Chargers seem to be in a great spot with several players who suffered injuries in 2025 looking to be much healthier and primed for strong 2026 campaigns.
One of those players is offensive tackle Joe Alt, who missed a significant amount of time in 2025 due to a high ankle sprain. On that note, Alt gave a very positive update on the status of his ankle during Wednesday's media session.
"You can't, I mean, in my mindset, you can't really do that. You can't have those be those hesitant hesitancies because then you play slow. So in my mind, it was, you know, really making sure I attacked my rehab in the offseason," Alt said.
"You know made sure I put my ankle in situations like it was going to be as close as I could to game speed and, you know, practice reps so I could go out here and be confident, and I feel like I did that. So there wasn't anything that, you know, made me feel slow yesterday," Alt added.
As Alt talked, playing with hesitation is something that NFL players cannot afford to do because of how fast paced the NFL is, which seems to be a major reason why he attacked his rehab this offseason and why he is doing everything he can to take advantage of his practice reps.
Last season, Alt played in just six games due to suffering a high ankle sprain, which made it very difficult for Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert, with inconsistent play across the offensive line, especially after Alt went down. Additionally, Alt lost a ton of valuable reps, and as a younger player, Alt needs to continue stacking reps so he can continue to progress.
While Alt is a young player, he has proved to be effective, as indicated by his 2025 performance, in which he played out of position at left tackle due to Rashawn Slater being out for the entire season due to a torn patellar tendon.
During the 2025 season, Alt allowed just one sack and seven pressures while also recording only one penalty, according to Pro Football Focus. Alt also graded quite well for PFF as he posted an overall grade of 79 (No. 16 among 89 OTs), a pass-blocking grade of 82.3 (No. 6 among 89 OTs), and a run-blocking grade of 70.8 (No. 30 among 89 OTs).
After looking at Alt's 2025 campaign, it is clear he consistently performs and is well on his way to emerging as an elite player in this league.
Looking ahead to next season, Alt should be able to move back to his natural position of right tackle with Slater now seeming to be fully healthy which should give Herbert one of the best tackle duos in the entire NFL.
If Alt, Slater and the rest of this offensive line perform to their potential, there is no telling what the ceiling of this offense could be.
