The NFL season hasn’t even started and the Chargers have already lost a solid player. According to NFL Network Insider Ian Rapoport, Safety Roderic Teamer will be suspended the first four games of the upcoming season for violating the league’s substance-abuse policy.
#Chargers S Roderic Teamer is suspended without pay for the first four games of the 2020 regular season for violating the NFL policy on substances of abuse. He played in 7 games last season.
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) July 13, 2020
Teamer was signed by the Chargers as an undrafted free agent in 2019, out of Tulane. Injuries allowed him to see extended action on the field, appearing in 7 games (6 starts). That’s a lot of action for someone who you wouldn’t think would get so much playing time after going undrafted. However, Teamer didn’t miss a beat as he impressed in those 7 games accumulating 40 total tackles (ninth on the team), 1 sack, 1 interception, and 2 pass defections.
Even though LA comes into the upcoming season with a very deep safety position with names like Derwin James, Nasir Adderley, and Rayshawn Jenkins, Teamer was seen as a possible role player for the team. While the team could certainly operate this season without the availability of Teamer the first 4 games, the presence of the pandemic could elevate the loss even more.
Football is a contact sport and we don’t yet know how badly the virus will affect it. Of course, we have to expect that some players will come into camps and test positive and possibly test positive at the beginning of the season. While at first glance the loss of Teamer may not seem too big, if the Chargers were to also lose one or more from the trio of James, Adderley, and Jenkins then the secondary would take a massive hit. The Chargers did draft another productive safety in the sixth round, but he’s untested in the NFL and brings concerns with him.
Fingers crossed that the Bolts don’t take any more losses to a secondary that can be one of the best in the league this year.
